The Houston Texans will face the Detroit Lions in Week 10. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding WR Nico Collins.
Is Nico Collins Playing in Week 10?
Houston Texans WR Nico Collins was off to a scorching hot start before suffering a hamstring injury in Week 5 against Buffalo. Collins was well on his way to earning first-team All-Pro honors before being placed on IR in Week 6.
The Texans are eagerly awaiting Collins’ return, as Stefon Diggs suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 8. Collins is eligible to return for the Texans this week against the Lions.
Collins has “passed all the tests” for his hamstring injury and was officially designated for return on Friday. He logged a limited practice on Friday but remains questionable for Week 10.
“Nico, he’s doing good,” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said Wednesday. “We’ll see where he ends up.”
We’ll continue to monitor the Texans’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Nico Collins in Week 10?
It’s not crazy to call Nico Collins a top-10 receiver in the NFL, right? He has 154 targets since the beginning of last season as he continues to develop, a level of volume that could easily be achieved within a single healthy season if you consider him among the game’s best (nine receivers cleared that number in 2023 alone). On those 154 targets …
- 112 catches
- 1,864 yards
- 11 touchdowns
Those are similar raw numbers and superior rate numbers to what CeeDee Lamb did last season. You’ll want to monitor the status of Collins’ hamstring. If he can go, he’ll be locked into the many lineups in which I have access to this star.
Hear me out
Top Row: Stroud's season numbers
Row 2: With Collins on the field
Row 3: Without Collins on the fieldWhat if HOU finishes 13-4 (7-1 ROS)?
"Moment" games remain with DET, KC, BALHis value has been proven over the last month. What if he shows out? pic.twitter.com/sIoEqh3HuM
— Kyle Soppe (@KyleSoppePFN)
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 10 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Nico Collins’ Fantasy Points Projection in Week 10
As of Sunday, Collins is projected to score 18.1 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 5.9 receptions for 93.4 yards and 0.5 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Lions’ Defense
The Detroit Lions are playing great complementary football right now, with their offense, defense, and special teams all ranking as top-10 units. The Lions made a trade before the deadline to add Za’Darius Smith following the injury to Aidan Hutchinson. That should help address their biggest area of need, as they rank 25th in sack rate this year.
The Lions have been excellent on third downs and inside the red zone, ranking first and fourth, respectively. Being strong in both of those areas has helped them to limit opponents to just 1.59 points per drive, which ranks sixth. It has also mitigated the fact that they rank 24th in yards per play, allowing 5.7 yards per play this season.
Do you want more insight on all other defensive units across the NFL? Head over to our PFN Defense+ Rankings for analysis on all 32 teams.
Nico Collins’ Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:45 PM ET on Saturday, January 25.
Conference Championship WR PPR Rankings
1) A.J. Brown | PHI (vs. WAS)
2) Terry McLaurin | WAS (at PHI)
3) DeVonta Smith | PHI (vs. WAS)
4) Khalil Shakir | BUF (at KC)
5) Xavier Worthy | KC (vs. BUF)
6) Hollywood Brown | KC (vs. BUF)
7) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (vs. BUF)
8) Keon Coleman | BUF (at KC)
9) Dyami Brown | WAS (at PHI)
10) Mack Hollins | BUF (at KC)
11) Amari Cooper | BUF (at KC)
12) Curtis Samuel | BUF (at KC)
13) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (at PHI)
14) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (vs. BUF)
15) Jahan Dotson | PHI (vs. WAS)
16) Jamison Crowder | WAS (at PHI)
17) Luke McCaffrey | WAS (at PHI)
18) Justin Watson | KC (vs. BUF)
19) Johnny Wilson | PHI (vs. WAS)
20) Parris Campbell | PHI (vs. WAS)
21) Nikko Remigio | KC (vs. BUF)
22) Ainias Smith | PHI (vs. WAS)
Detroit Lions at Houston Texans Insights
Detroit Lions
Team: The Lions’ +110 point differential is fourth-best through eight games in franchise history (their best since posting a +144 margin in 1954).
QB: Jared Goff ranks first or second in the league in completion percentage, yards per pass, and passer rating – he faces a defense this week that has allowed a touchdown on a league-high 6.9% of passes.
Offense: The Lions turn the ball over just 0.63 times per game, which is fueling their league-best turnover margin (+1.38 per game).
Defense: The Lions are one of four defenses to rank in the top 10 in both blitz and pressure rate (Broncos, Browns, and Chiefs).
Fantasy: Jahmyr Gibbs is producing despite not flashing the versatility we thought he’d need next to David Montgomery – the second-year back has failed to catch multiple passes in four of his past six games.
Betting: The Lions have covered eight of their past nine indoor games, including three road games.
Houston Texans
Team: The Texans have converted just five of 14 red zone trips (35.7%) into touchdowns over their past three games, down from their 75% rate through Week 6 (12-of-16).
QB: C.J. Stroud will likely get Nico Collins back this week, a return that can’t come soon enough.
Offense: C.J. Stroud’s 17-game pace this season in games started by Nico Collins is 4,709 yards, a far cry from the version of him that we’ve seen over the past month (under 200 passing yards in three of four games and just one touchdown toss over his past three).
Defense: The Texans have the third-worst red zone defense in the NFL, allowing a touchdown on 69.6% of opponent trips (league average: 56.7%).
Fantasy: Joe Mixon appears to be aging in reverse.
- Week 6 at New England Patriots: 15 touches, 75.4% production over expectation
- Week 7 at Green Bay Packers: 27 touches, 21.3% production over expectation
- Week 8 vs. Indianapolis Colts: 29 touches, 9.1% production over expectation
- Week 9 at New York Jets: 24 touches, 10.4% production over expectation
He’s found paydirt in all four of those games. He’s a 20-plus yard rush in all four of those games. He’s cleared 100 rushing yards in all four of those games.
Betting: Five straight Texan home games (and eight of the past nine) have gone under the total.
