With less than a week until the beginning of Houston Texans training camp, fans and media alike are excited at the return of their favorite team and the continuing preparation for the 2023 season. Additionally, NFL training camp often answers lingering questions from the offseason.
For the Houston Texans, a rebuilding club in the midst of the first year of a culture change, there are multiple factors that need a resolution. Who will be the starting quarterback? Which players on either side of the ball will emerge as reliable and consistent contributors? Who will get the majority of the first-team reps?
All of these signs will indicate how the final depth chart will ultimately shape up and how the Houston Texans will enter a new era of football. One of these position groups in need of solving is the wide receiver group.
Headlined by veterans Robert Woods, and Noah Brown, and a group of intriguing youngsters in Nico Collins, John Metchie III, and rookies Tank Dell and Xavier Hutchinson, the unit certainly does not lack potential. What it does lack at this time is a proven ability at the professional level.
Here at Toro Times, we are analyzing different position groups on this Texans club entering training camp, and addressing lingering questions that hope to have their resolution toward the end of Texans camp, starting with an important group of offensive skill players.
Here are three questions for the Houston Texans wide receivers entering training camp.
Who will emerge as the first option?
With so many youngsters and a lack of proven production outside of veteran Robert Woods, trying to identify who will emerge as the first option in the passing game is something that has yet to reveal itself. On paper, the elder statesman is the most qualified to spearhead the attack.
The veteran wideout has two 1,000-yard seasons on his resume and was a dominant presence for a Los Angeles Rams passing attack that terrorized opponents across the NFL landscape. Woods’s most prolific seasons came between 2018-2020, but in a league that puts a heavy emphasis on what has been done lately, Woods has not lived up to par.
Even on those Rams attacks, Woods was not a first option in the passing game, benefiting immensely from the presence of dominant receivers Cooper Kupp and Brandin Cooks throughout his time as a Ram. Factoring in Woods's dismal 2022 season with the Titans, in which he only eclipsed 527 receiving yards in 17 games, questions begin to arise about his viability as a true number-one receiver.
If Woods does not win the job based on his experience, Nico Collins is another name to watch out for. At 6’4” and 215 pounds and still only 24 years old, Collins’s best football may very well still lie ahead of him, though his rapport with the Texans quarterbacks in training camp will determine his role in the offense.
How much stock will the Texans quarterback battle have on the unit?
A quarterback's chemistry with their skill position players has a massive impact on how the depth chart will ultimately shake up. For the Houston Texans, the battle for the starting quarterback job is still very much in the air.
Though the job is trending more and more toward that of C.J. Stroud, the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft still has to beat out incumbent Davis Mills to make that a reality. Head coach DeMeco Ryans has made clear throughout the offseason that training camp will ultimately decide who controls the reigns of the offense.
Training camp will also provide clarity as to which receivers each quarterback prefers, and how each receiver handles the heat once the pads come on. The task is far from easy and each receiver will face their fair share of challenges.
At the end of the day, preference from the signal caller does play a role in the finalization of the depth chart, but it is equally on the receiver to prove that they deserve a role. With plenty of time between the start of training camp and the regular season, this period will showcase which receivers may be ready for expanded opportunities in a new-look offense.
Is anybody on the roster bubble?
NFL training camp is important for fringe roster players, ones that need to make a statement or significant impact to prevent a trip to the chopping block. For the Houston Texans, final spots for the team’s wide receivers are still very much in the air.
Veterans Amari Rodgers, Steven Sims, and Alex Bachman each hold varying levels of experience at the professional level but are not considered the front runners for offensive roles at this time. Johnny Johnson III, Jalen Camp, Jared Wayne, and Jesse Matthews are other receivers vying for a final spot on the Texans' 53-man roster.
Each of these players needs to have a standout training camp in order to avoid being sent packing. At the very least they need to prove that they can provide versatility on special teams to have a chance at the opening day roster. Time will tell who will ultimately prevail, but this certainly makes for an interesting side note as training camp rapidly approaches.