The Houston Texans are a team in flux. In 2023 they were the plucky team that could, going 10-7 and shocking the NFL world along the way. The club had a rookie head coach, a rookie quarterback, and a host of guys who many didn't think twice about. That would all change, however. As the year went on, the NFL saw for sure that this Texans squad wasn't one to mess with.
Lead by rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, the Texans went above and beyond all expectations that the club had for it, with Stroud proving himself to be a true franchise level quarterback. His impressive season helped the Texans find success on and off the field. The Texans not only won 10 games, also clinched the AFC South championship, before going on to the playoffs and defeating the top defense in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.
Off the field Stroud, fellow rookie and defensive end Will Anderson and Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans won a bunch of awards, with Anderson and Stroud taking home NFL Rookie of the Year honors. This sudden success had the Texans focus on improving the offense around Stroud. They added a new running back in Joe Mixon from the Cincinnati Bengals and hit a home run by acquiring Stefon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills.
Yet, Diggs is coming into a situation where the Texans are far from lacking at the position. So how does Diggs rank against the rest of the Texans' top receivers? Let's find out.
5. Robert Woods
Despite Stefon Diggs coming in at 30 years old, he's not the oldest of the top receivers. That's Robert Woods, former Super Bowl champion with the Los Angeles Rams. Woods, like Digs, spent years in Buffalo before moving on, with Woods going to the Rams and having his best years as a pro. After a stopover with the Tennessee Titans, Woods ended up in Houston.
He didn't have a great season in his first and so far only season with the Texans, though he did start 11 games and had 75 targets. It was clear though that as the season moved on, Woods was the fourth or fifth option every game behind Tank Dell, Nico Collins, Dalton Schultz, and even at times Noah Brown.
It's why Woods finished with just 426 yards on the year, the lowest of his career. Yet, Wwoods still found action because he was a fantastic route runner and a good blocker, things the Texans needed in 2023. The Texans are likely to bring him back this season, only due to the fact there's no reason not to.
The Texans need a veteran presence who isn't known for burning bridges and the team doesn't need to free up any cap space. So he'll likely come back but it's not expected to be in a role where he'll get a lot of action.
4. Noah Brown
Noah Brown came off a huge season with the Dallas Cowboys where he had 555 yards, three touchdowns, and a reception average of nearly 13 yards per catch. He played in 16 games, started 13, and had 74 targets. He showed a lot of promise but the Cowboys didn't want to retain him, so he went a bit southeast to Houston. With the Texans, he didn't play as much but he was far more impactful.
He played just 10 games for a variety of reasons, but he started seven of those games and was targeted 55 times on the season, the second most of his career. He would set a new career high in yards for a season with 567 and had a team-high yards per reception at 17.2. He was C.J. Stroud's best deep threat for a majority of the season and his impact was felt often.
He'll likely get some reps this season, as it's unlikely that Stefon Diggs, Tank Dell, and Nico Collins play all 17 games each. Brown will need to be ready to go should any of the top three guys slip out of the gate or get hurt. It's likely why the Texans retained him, that and Dell is coming off of a major injury, so having him on hand in case Dell can't go right away is smart.
3. Tank Dell
Tank Dell's rookie season was fantastic, even when you factor in his broken leg that ended his season. Prior to that, Dell had 47 receptions on 75 targets for 709 yards and a reception average of 15.1, third-best on the team. He was also leading the team in various stats before his injury, including reception touchdowns.
It's a shame he only had 11 games to show off in, as he was easily on pace for 1,000 yards as a rookie. Had his rate of success continued, he would've had nearly 1,100 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season and would've made the Offensive Rookie of the Year award all that much more interesting. There's no denying that Dell and C.J. Stroud benefited from one another, but with the arrival of Stefon Diggs and the need to see if Nico Collins can be a real number-one guy, Dell shouldn't expect the same rate of success in 2024.
He'll still get his reps, but those reps won't be as bountiful. After all, the Texans have two expiring contracts in Collins and Diggs, and the team has to figure out which one, if either deserves a new deal for 2025. So they're going to get a lot of the reps.
2. Stefon Diggs
Stefon Diggs has excelled with the Buffalo Bills, benefiting greatly from playing with a great quarterback like Josh Allen. In those four seasons in Buffalo, he went to four Pro Bowls and was a one-time All-Pro receiver. His best season in Buffalo was his first, where he had 1,535 yards and eight touchdowns, though he'd have better touchdown seasons with 10 in 2021 and 11 in 2022.
So clearly he can find the endzone. The issue with Diggs is that while he has a track record (for both good and bad reasons), is production is slipping. He never hit 1,5000 yards again after his first year in Buffalo and his rate of success dipped each year since.
He converted 76% of his targets in 2020, to 62.3% in 2021, to 70% in 2022, and then down to 64% in 2023. He also posted his lowest amount of yards in 2023, with just 1,183. That may seem like a lot but consider the fact he had over 1,500 in 2020, with just 16 games. Now he's got 17 games and he's barely breaking 1,100.
He's clearly not the same player he was when he first ended up Buffalo but he can still likely be a Pro Bowler now that he's in Houston. With the weapons around him, and his age, just don't expect him to match his stats from 2020.
1. Nico Collins
I'm not sure if Nico Collins is a real number-one receiver or if he's even better than Tank Dell, but right now I trust him more than Stefon Diggs or Tank Dell. Dell's coming off of a broken leg and Diggs may be on the decline with a history of getting into arguments with teammates and coaches. We're not sure what either man can be, let alone Collins.
Yet, Collins may have just needed a quarterback to unlock his potential. As soon as C.J. Stroud arrived in Houston, Collins looked like a top-flight receiver. He nearly tripled his yards output from the year prior (481 to 1,297), and outproduced his first two seasons combined. He became a big-time player for the Texans, helping add eight touchdowns to Stroud's marvelous rookie season.
Still, it'd be fair to say that Collins' one-year outburst isn't enough to make him a true number one. He needs to prove that he can be this consistent year in and year out. That said, I have more faith in Collins showing his worth in year four than I do Diggs turning back the clock or Dell coming out of the shoot without needing time to reacclimate.
Dell's injury will take some time for him to come back from, and that gives Collins a chance to really show his value.