The Houston Texans made headlines with their draft moves, specifically selecting two wide receivers out of Iowa State. Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel played together in college and now will both be joining the Texans offense and catching passes from C.J. Stroud.
Texans fans knew that wide receiver would be near the top of Nick Caserio's list to address in the draft due to Tank Dell's injury he sustained late in the 2024 regular season. Well, after hearing the latest update on Dell, it turns out that Caserio knew precisely what he was doing when adding not one, but two wide receivers early on in the draft.
According to Jonathan M. Alexander of The Houston Chronicle, Dell "will more than likely miss the 2025 season and be placed on the physically unable to perform list.” Texans fans assumed that Dell would miss most of, if not all of, the 2025 season with that gruesome knee injury he suffered against the Chiefs in late December.
That's why adding receivers this offseason was a must. Not only was Dell going to be unavailable but Stefon Diggs bolted for New England, leaving Houston with Nico Collins and Christian Kirk as the two main options at the position.
Tank Dell injury update shows why Nick Caserio doubled up on receivers in draft
Dell was an exciting pick-up for the Texans two years ago but has battled injuries since entering the league as a third-round pick out of Houston. While missing an entire season could certainly put his future with the Texans in doubt, the timeline for Dell should put him back with the team in the spring of 2026. That would hopefully give him time to work toward coming back stronger in what would be his last contract year with the team that drafted him.
By that point, the Texans might be content with what they have with Collins, Higgins, and Noel, but Dell's presence will be more of a "the more, the merrier" type of vibe more than anything else. It's unfortunate that hitting a slam dunk in the form of Higgins and Noel means that Dell won't be available but hopefully, when he does come back, he comes back stronger than ever.
For now, the Texans have some ballers at the wide receiver position and Caserio made sure that Stroud's lack of weapons wouldn't be a problem for the team as they strive for great things this year.