The Houston Texans head into Week 15 heavily injured at critical positions.
Rookie wideout Tank Dell is already out for the season with a leg injury, but other stars could also miss the AFC South match against the Tennessee Titans. Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud (concussion), wide receiver Nico Collins (calf), linebacker Blake Cashman (hamstring) and rookie defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (ankle) have all missed practice time this week.
Losing players to injuries is never a good thing, but it’s even worse when they’re arguably a team’s most valuable assets. All five have a Pro Football Focus grade of at least 80 this year, meaning they’ve all been impactful to the Texans’ success and incredibly good at their respective jobs.
The TEXANS have five players with a PFF grade of 80+ on the season. It looks like they’ll likely be without all five of them on Sunday:
NICO COLLINS, 88.3
BLAKE CASHMAN, 87.8
TANK DELL, 83.4
C.J. STROUD, 81.5
WILL ANDERSON, 80.5Merry Christmas.
— Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) December 15, 2023
Stroud is the top candidate for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, while Dell was on pace to reach 1,000 receiving yards and Collins did reach 1,000 receiving yards. Anderson Jr. is a possible NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate with five sacks this season and Cashman was a locker room leader with a team-high 87 combined tackles.
That type of production is incredibly hard to replace, but Houston will have to if they want to win this week.
Davis Mills is a competent starter to replace Stroud at quarterback – he’s started 26 games over the past two seasons. Veteran wideouts Robert Woods and Noah Brown will need to step up in the receiving game, alongside young receivers John Metchie III and Xavier Hutchinson. The defense, too, will need to deploy its depth in the absence of Cashman and/or Anderson.
Week 15 will be a big test for DeMeco Ryans and his young squad.
