After missing the 2025 season with a severe knee injury, Dell is reportedly making significant progress in the Texans’ current offseason conditioning program. Team management is using his performance in spring activities to gauge his readiness and official availability for the 2026 campaign.
If cleared to play, Dell likely holds the advantage over Jaylin Noel and Xavier Hutchinson for the team’s WR3 position and will push Jayden Higgins and Dalton Schultz for targets behind first-read Nico Collins. Dell is a value dart in best ball and a strong buy-low candidate in fantasy football dynasty leagues.
Houston Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins showed flashes ...
Houston Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins flashed upside ...
Houston Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins was the fifth ...
McNair is doubling down on his support for C.J. Stroud, reaffirming that the Texans are “totally behind” him as their long-term leader. The team exercised Stroud’s fifth-year option through 2027, with plans for a formal contract extension expected next year.
Although Stroud’s individual stats have cooled since his rookie year, his consistent postseason success has the organization focused on upgrading his offensive weapons to alleviate pressure next season. Still just 24.5 years of age, Stroud is a relatively inexpensive, young building block asset for fantasy football superflex and 2 QB dynasty leagues.
Tank Dell is currently rehabbing from a severe 2024 knee injury that sidelined him for the entire 2025 season, with the Texans maintaining a “day-to-day” outlook for his potential Week 1 return. While his early career production (98-1,376-10) set a high standard, GM Nick Caserio’s openness to drafting a receiver suggests the team is actively seeking insurance for his recovery.
Dell is a high-risk “hold” in dynasty leagues. His value is currently suppressed by health volatility and target competition from the team’s sophomore playmakers and rookie competition. Brave dynasty leaguers who buy-low based on injury concerns know the reward is relatively capped.
Tank Dell is the ultimate post-hype sleeper, now eighteen months post-surgery and sitting on a massive market inefficiency after a lost 2025 campaign. While DeMeco Ryans has been non-committal about Dell’s readiness, Texans beats believe he is a true buy-low WR.
Once that first practice highlight hits the presses, the discount will disappear. The real issue is not health, it is target competition from sophomores Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins. Plus, David Montgomery‘s arrival signals a more run-heavy approach. Dell remains a better deep best ball option than dynasty stash.
The absence of Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell from Houston’s pass-catching corps left the team shallow at wide receiver. The Texans remedy that with the second pick in Round 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft (No. 34 overall) by selecting Jayden Higgins from Iowa State. The high draft capital virtually assures that Higgins will start opposite Pro Bowl receiver Nico Collins in catching passes from C.J. Stroud on Day 1.
Higgins has been a fantasy darling among fantasy managers whose stock has risen throughout the draft process. Higgins logged a 4.47 40-yard dash time and slayed other combine measurables. While a 4.47 is not typical of a massively impressive time, the fact that Higgins is a Collins-like prototype at 6-4 and 214 pounds makes it eye-catching.
The 22-year-old Higgins finished his two-year career with the Cyclones, amassing 140 catches for 2,166 yards and 15 trips to paydirt.
Author: Sam Schneider (@BuyAndSellYou)
Heading into the Senior Bowl, Miami wide receiver Xavier Restrepo aimed to show scouts and media at large that he could step up in the short, intermediate, and deep passing game. While Restrepo attempted to boost his NFL stock, fellow wide receiver classmates such as Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel from Iowa State, and TCU’s Jack Bech staked claim for attention with their dazzling play in both practice drills and in the Senior Bowl game itself.
Restrepo’s college quarterback, Cam Ward is expected to be selected within the first few picks of the 2025 NFL Draft. He had hoped to show scouts and media that part of Ward’s success was due in part to utilizing a weapon such as Restrepo himself. The teammate who got the most buzz on that end was Miami tight end Elijah Arroyo. Elijah Arroyo did enough during Senior Bowl week to garner calls for being a top-3 tight end in the class, whereas Xavier Restrepo quietly gave scouts plenty to chew on in favor of drafting him. Xavier Restrepo is currently listed on the Pro Football Focus Big Board 2025 at 49 putting him on track for 2nd round draft capital.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
