During the dog days of summer, we did an in-depth breakdown of Houston Texan's third-year wide receiver Nico Collins. We boldly claimed that he could be an elite number-one receiver this season, and he has become that.
I'm not here to toot my own horn because I'm wrong ten times more than right. But we talked about Collins this summer; it was all speculation. However, the proof was in the pudding of his own body of work.
Heading into the week seven bye for the Texans, Nico Collins ranks eighth in the NFL in receiving yards with 547 yards. He has done that on a mere 29 receptions and, more impressively, is second in the NFL with 13 plays of 20 or more yards, only behind Minnesota star Justin Jefferson. Can Collins continue this after the bye? Absolutely.
The 6'4, 215 lb receiver out of Michigan has been proving people wrong all season. Today, we want to continue our deeper dive and look at what changed that has made him a top-five receiver in many categories.
Houston Texans: Nico Collins is a skilled reveiver with multiple strengths
Collins had two elite traits coming into his third season in the NFL: his hands and frame. He has the exact build you want from a number-one wide receiver. A receiver who runs a 4.45, 40-yard dash and stands tall at 6 '4" while weighing 218 pounds is ideal for the modern-day NFL. His 40-yard dash is faster than DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Williams, Texans rookie Tank Dell, and All-Pro Stefon Diggs. His 34⅛ inch arms and vertical jump of 37½ inches make him an ideal deep shot and red zone threat.
That being said, how many wideouts come into the NFL with good physical traits but don't pan out? Too many. The former Michigan star is not one of them because of his most elite trait. Collins' hands set him apart from the group, but that did not pan out. As discussed this summer, his hands are up there with the best in the league.
"Nico Collins has some of the best hands in the entire NFL and has never dropped a pass in his NFL career. Of NFL wide receivers who caught nine or more contested catches last season, Nico Collins ranks number one with a 75% catch rate. That is higher than Justin Jefferson, Cooper Kupp, DK Metcalf, and Mike Evans. "Peter Manfre, Toro Times
Collins has stayed true to his advertised abilities but has had help from his new quarterback and offensive coordinator, who have let his best traits shine on Sundays. We will look into that more in the next slide.
Houston Texans: Nico Collins benefits from C.J Stroud's perfromaces
When the Houston Texans selected quarterback CJ Stroud out of Ohio State University, it was met with much-warranted excitement. Texans fans last had an accurate pocket passer when Matt Schaub was in town. That's not a slight at DeShaun Watson, but he was not the most pocket-passing quarterback. He did a lot of good, but accuracy was not his calling card.
Stroud came into the league touting himself as one of the most precise growers in the whole draft class. We spoke ad nauseam on how the quarterback play of the Houston Texans during Nico Collins's first two seasons cost him. Below is evidence from our report on Collins' in May.
"Further evidence of this can be seen by Collins's overall grade of 92.9 on intermediate catches, despite only catching nine out of 22 deep passes. Why were only 39% of the intermediate passes caught from a receiver with zero drops? The quality of the passes thrown was subpar. Davis Mills was graded as the worst starting quarterback on intermediate throws by PFF. The next worst was Zach Wilson. "Peter Manfre, Toro Times
Where is it that Collins has been doing most of his damage? The intermediate passing depth. His role looks very similar to what it had his first two years, but what's changed is going from Tyrod Taylor and Davis Mills to CJ Stroud, who is proving time and time again to be very accurate.
Collins runs three routes in an elite fashion: the deep-in, go route, and corner routes. All three routes require a quarterback with great to elite accuracy for the ball to end up close to Collins's hands. Stroud has been doing that as advertised. A prime example is the late-game touchdown toss he threw on a corner route to Collins against the Steelers. You can see that throw and catch at the 1:05 mark in the video below:
With Collins's elite skills meshed with Stroud's, the Houston Texans may have a new number-one receiver and an elite option on an offense many touted as having the worst offensive weapons in the league. The Houston Texans are having their best year since 2019 and a ton of credit is due to the emergence of Nico Collins.