The Houston Texans’ receiving corps were considered one of the team’s weakest links going into training camp.
Nico Collins was the oldest returning player and had sustained multiple injuries during his first two years. Robert Woods was their top free agent acquisition and was coming off a career worst year in Tennessee. Second-year wideout John Metchie and rookie Tank Dell were entirely unknown commodities. Factor in rookie offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik would be working with the group, and it seemed like a stew of ambiguity.
After just two preseason games, there may be real reason for optimism amongst the group in Houston.
In the 20-9 win at the New England Patriots, Dell exploded with five catches for 65 yards and a touchdown off of a team-high eight targets. In the 28-3 loss to the Miami Dolphins, Collins produced two catches for 21 yards off three targets. Even Woods and Noah Brown were able to generate third down conversions each. Despite numbers that don’t overwhelm at face value, there may be strong reason for optimism.
Some offensive takeaways for Houston from Saturday:
• 56.3% of their plays used motion 💨
• Nico Collins ran 7/11 of his routes from the slot 🙌
• 72.9% of their plays from 11-personnel. No plays with 4+ WR’s 🏈
Expect a lot of Collins-Woods-Tank-Schultz #WeAreTexans pic.twitter.com/fJjTq4qJRD
— John Crumpler (@JohnHCrumpler) August 21, 2023
Slowik has leaned into motion with his offense, utilizing it on 49.5% of plays through two exhibition games. In the grand scheme of preseason offense and vanilla schemes, this is nearly double what former coordinator Pep Hamilton used in his preseason last year.
This has put receivers in interesting positions such as Collins receiving a ball out of the backfield when working with the first team against Miami. In fact, Collins ran seven of his 11 routes originally aligned in the slot against that offense. The 6-4, 215-pound wideout, in that particular lineup, could be a nightmare for smaller defensive backs if this trend continues into the regular season.
Meanwhile, Dell, once projected as a slot-only or gadget player, has shown the opposite profile. He’s run more of his routes from out-wide than everyone on the team except for Woods and fellow rookie Xavier Hutchinson. The 5-8, 165-pounder could not look any different from Collins. However, it’s clear that they won’t be defined by their roles on the field as much as the skillsets and mismatches they can provide.
Teams will have their coverage rules tested against a bevy of versatile skillsets within the group.
Tank Dell, with a limited sample size, has run more of his routes aligned from out wide (82.4%) than:
– Nico Collins: 53.3%
– Noah Brown: 25%
– John Metchie: 25%Not just a slot player. Curious to see if this holds as Dell gets more snaps with the starting core #WeAreTexans pic.twitter.com/HLA5Ca3MFe
— John Crumpler (@JohnHCrumpler) August 21, 2023
It’s also worth mentioning the other receivers — the tight ends.
Through two contests, Slowik has also leaned into tight end usage. Houston ranks third in 12-personnel usage and fifth in 13-personnel usage. Dalton Schultz will feature as the receiving tight end in most packages, but second year player Teagan Quitoriano and free agent acquisition Andrew Beck may force defenses into heavier, undesirable personnel groupings against their passing game.
Altogether, Houston shows signs of what could be a passable supporting cast for Stroud’s rookie season. Woods reliably on the outside, versatile receivers that can create confusion, heavy pre-snap motion to muddy their offensive intentions, and bigger personnel packages as needed to boost the run game and get slower defenders on the field.
They haven’t been explosive in the preseason because the team is not trying to show their full deck of cards right now. Fans should be excited at the hints of what their regular season offense may look like and be patient for the possible output that could come beyond.
