Nico Collins, who suffered the injury during Wednesday’s practice, was always a long shot to suit up this weekend. KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson followed up with a report that Collins will likely miss two games.
If last week’s deployment is any guide, Xavier Hutchinson (69% snap share) and Kayshon Boutte (61% snap share) are positioned to lead the receiver room on Sunday, with second year receiver Jaylin Noel (28% snap share) mixed in. For fantasy football purposes, both Hutchinson and Noel operated predominantly out of the slot last week, logging 57% and 81% of their snaps there, respectively. Hutchinson offers the versatility to move back outside where he played the majority of his snaps in 2025, should the team opt to keep Noel in the slot. The offense will ramp up Boutte’s route participation while leaning on veteran tight end Dalton Schultz, who finished second on the team with eight targets in Week 1.
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This is a situation that needs to be closely monitored as some reports have stated that WR Nico Collins did in fact go through individual drills during practice after sustaining the injury. But according to Aaron Wilson, it has been confirmed that the Houston Texans are to have tests done on Collins’ hamstring per league source. Adam Schefter followed up with a reported stating Collins met with doctors after Wednesday’s practice, and they “don’t believe it’s serious.”
Collins is PlayerProfiler’s WR6 in seasonal-redraft and is coming off a strong Week 1 performance of 7 catches on 10 targets for 75 yards and 1 TD against the Buffalo Bills, and his status for Week 2 vs. the Bengals remains in jeopardy. If Collins misses time, it would cripple the Texans passing attack and leave Houston’s newly-acquired Kayshon Boutte as the de facto WR1.
Beyond Boutte, Xavier Hutchinson (29 routes run in Week 1), WR Jaylin Noel (15 routes run in Week 1), and TE Dalton Schultz (32 routes run in Week 1) are all No. 2 receiving options for C.J. Stroud. Second-year WR Jaylin Noel is the most dynamic secondary option and would offer the most upside for fantasy football, if Collins misses time. ~Jason Diaz
While both sides made a run at completing an extension before the regular season begins, they couldn’t strike a deal and both sides now prefer to wait until after this season to work out a long-term deal. C.J. Stroud. Stroud has had an up-and-down past couple of years after a strong rookie season, culminating in a brutal Divisional Playoff loss last year to New England where he completed 20 of 47 passes along with 4-INTs. This has Stroud wanting to bet on himself to revert back to his rookie year form, where he finished as QB11, and the Texans not willing to financially commit to him at that level.
This should lead to a highly motivated Stroud this year. The arrival of David Montgomery at RB in the offseason, combined with Woody Marks, whose improvement this offseason has impressed the coaching staff, should force defenses to be more honest against Stroud and star WR Nico Collins. Stroud is PlayerProfiler’s No. 22 ranked QB in dynasty rankings and No. 21 ranked QB in Week 1 rankings.
Houston traded safety Jaylen Reed and a 2028 seventh-round pick for Kayshon Boutte, the 5-11, 195-pound former Patriot who posted 33 catches for 551 yards and six touchdowns at 16.7 yards per reception last season with a 105.7 Explosive Rating. They plan to use him immediately Sunday against Buffalo because offensive coordinator Nick Caley’s playbook carries over from New England.
Boutte has stayed after practice with C.J. Stroud to lock in timing after Jayden Higgins tore his ACL, giving the Texans another contested-catch option. Nico Collins stays the clear No. 1 while Boutte slots in as a complementary piece alongside Jaylin Noel, Xavier Hutchinson, and Dalton Schultz in fantasy football. He is currently ranked as PlayerProfiler’s WR61 for fantasy football redraft and WR70 for dynasty leagues and rising.
Tank Dell burst onto the scene as a 2023 third-round pick out of Houston with a 709-yard rookie campaign and looked poised to take the next step until a gruesome leg injury ended his sophomore season. Dell hasn’t hasn’t played since, and presumably still needs a few weeks to return to game action.
Dell boasted a 31% college target share according to PlayerProfiler, which ranks in the 92nd percentile. He will reinforce a depleted Houston receiver room once he gets healthy. Fantasy managers can avoid Dell in standard redraft leagues for now, but should keep him as an IR stash until the Texans activate him.
“[The Texans] should have a full-speed Tank Dell next season [2027], too, hopefully sooner, although he’s nowhere near ready to play,” McClain said in a tweet on Monday this week. This comes on the heels of Dell not even appearing at practices for the last week-plus.
McClain, who has covered the NFL for 50 years in Houston, went on to lament the loss of Dell since his two seasons in which he totaled over 90 catches and topped 1,300 yards combined in 25 games.
The surprising news comes as a blow to both fans and fantasy managers banking on Dell’s return from a devastating 2024 injury in which he dislocated his knee, tore his ACL, LCL, and MCL, and damaged his meniscus. It was a gruesome injury many thought no one could come back from. After seemingly defying the odds, fans will have to wait. It sounds as though he’ll miss significant time in 2026… if he plays at all.
Houston recently traded for Kayshon Boutte after a season-ending loss of Jayden Higgins (ACL). If Dell doesn’t return, they’ll either shop again or look to Jaylin Noel and Xavier Hutchinson to pick up the slack. Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz get a fantasy uptick as the most reliable pass-catchers.
