Houston Texans‘ WR Nico Collins has been completely absent from the box score in their Week 3 game against the Minnesota Vikings. Collins was dealing with injury issues during the week, but should fantasy football managers be concerned, or is he just off to a slow start?
Nico Collins’ Slow Start in Week 3 Matches the Texans’ Offense
Collins was on the field during the first quarter of Sunday’s game but did not participate in the action. The Texans’ first three drives resulted in zero points and saw them run just 14 plays. Their first drive ended after just two plays when C.J. Stroud was picked off.
However, it is worth noting that on the first play of the game, Stroud completed a 17-yard pass to Collins that was negated by a penalty on the offense. At the end of the first quarter, Collins has not been targeted outside of that penalty on the first play and has posted zero fantasy points.
As we near halftime, Collins is finally present in the box score. The Texans’ WR has two targets, reeling in one reception for nine yards. That should calm the fears of fantasy managers a little, as it means Collins remains on the field, even if he is not producing as we would like.
This is quite the change for Collins, who saw 18 targets in the first two games. Collins finished the two games with a total of 14 receptions for 252 yards and a touchdown. The Texans’ WR actually led the league in receiving yards through two games.
What makes this more concerning is that Collins missed a practice earlier this week with hip and foot issues. However, it appeared to be just precautionary as he was then limited on Thursday and a full participant on Friday.
Texans have released their injury report for Week 3.
RB Joe Mixon is doubtful.
RB Dameon Pierce is out.Both of the Texans centers are questionable. pic.twitter.com/4fUC5MLCVU
— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) September 20, 2024
Collins is the premium receiver for the Texans’ offense, so it makes sense that he will be well-covered by opposing defenders. However, he is an extremely talented player and should be able to make plays as the game goes on. Being the focus of the coverage will not be a new thing for Collins, so expect him to find a way to get in the game, as he did last week when he was drawing plenty of attention.
Nico Collins isn't real. Good lord what a player he's become. pic.twitter.com/QRaKuzH9I5
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) September 18, 2024
We can look back on last year’s numbers to see that Collins is susceptible to the odd difficult game. In 2023, his first with Stroud at quarterback, he had three games in which he saw fewer than five targets and five games where he finished with fewer than 50 receiving yards. On two of those occasions, his fantasy managers were bailed out by a touchdown.
The intriguing thing about the situation this week is that the Vikings have been somewhat susceptible to allowing fantasy points to WRs this season. Per TruMedia, they have allowed 30.1 fantasy points per game to the WR position, which is the 13th-highest number in the league through the first two weeks.