Over the past month, the Houston Texans have lost Nico Collins to a hamstring strain and Stefon Diggs to a torn ACL. While Collins is due back soon, right now, sophomore WR Tank Dell is the last man standing — but it hasn’t been the smoothest road for him this season.
Tank Dell’s Injuries
In the midst of a very good rookie year, Dell’s season was cut short in Week 13. On a goal-line play in which the 165-pound wide receiver was inexplicably blocking, Dell broke his fibula, ending his season.
At the time, he had recorded 47 receptions for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games played.
Dell spent months rehabbing his injury. When he finally was able to get healthy, adversity struck again. In late April, Dell was the victim of a shooting at a Florida nightclub.
The bullet struck him in the leg, which easily could have put Dell back on the shelf for months. Instead, he was at the Texans’ voluntary offseason workouts less than a month later.
Less than a month after he was shot, Tank Dell was a full participant during Texans voluntary workouts. pic.twitter.com/JvcbIsLEc6
— Chancellor Johnson (@ChancellorTV) May 21, 2024
Dell has not performed nearly as well this season as he did as a rookie. After averaging 64.5 receiving yards per game last year, he’s at 32.7 in his sophomore season. His yards per route run have also dropped from 2.36 to 1.07.
It would be easy to say that maybe Dell just was never that good. But as we saw with Tony Pollard last year, this type of injury may need to be one where we give the player a mulligan for his first season back.
It wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see Dell return to being the player he was as a rookie or even better in 2025.
When Was Dell Drafted By the Texans?
The Texans selected Dell with the sixth pick in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, making him the ninth wide receiver taken in that year’s draft. While the Texans obviously did not draft Dell solely because of their quarterback, C.J. Stroud did ask his team to take the Houston product.
Texans rookie receiver Tank Dell says C.J. Stroud asked the team to draft him. https://t.co/o3EJMkrzcQ
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 3, 2023
Dell was an older rookie, but he had an incredible final season at Houston, catching 109 passes for 1,398 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The pick was very much due to WR being a position of need. At the time, Houston had no idea who its top pass catcher would be.
Collins is now well-established as a true alpha WR1 and one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. But at the time, he was just a rotational receiver who had no real success at the NFL level.
Now, the duo of Collins and Dell will have to carry the load for the remainder of the season, as the offense adjusts to life without Diggs.
Looking at the Texans’ WR Depth Chart
Dell entered the season as the WR3 behind Collins and Diggs. Despite no longer being in his prime, Diggs quickly proved he wasn’t quite done. As a result, this became one of if not the best WR trios in the NFL.
Collins is expected back in Week 10. He and Dell should be staples in two-receiver sets. Mixing in behind them will be veteran Robert Woods and rotational depth pieces Xavier Hutchinson and John Metchie III. Reliable veteran TE Dalton Schultz can also play an increased role if needed.
Overall, even with Diggs done for the year and Dell not quite himself just yet, the Texans remain one of the most potent offenses in the NFL, aided by Joe Mixon’s career year. If they can hit their stride at the right time, the Texans could make a deep playoff run.