As the NFL Draft has neared closer, the Houston Texans have been one of the most watched teams going into the event. It’s essentially a guarantee that with their second overall pick, they will take Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud – whichever of the two is there after the Carolina Panthers take their guy with the top overall pick. This should, in theory, land them a new franchise quarterback. However, questions about the Texans supporting cast still remain, particularly the wide receivers – Young or Stroud may have a harder time breaking out right away if there isn’t a clear WR1 to throw to.
Houston Texans Wide Receivers Have Question Marks Going Into Draft
Current State of Affairs
The last three years, Brandin Cooks was the top target on the wide receiver corps by a wide margin. However, this offseason he got traded to the Dallas Cowboys. Prior to free agency, this left them with the likes of Nico Collins and Amari Rodgers as the best guys available. Collins has showed promise, but at the moment he’s a WR2 at most. Depending on how things shake out, Rodgers may be on the roster bubble this year.
The Texans did make multiple free agent signings – Robert Woods, Noah Brown, and Steven Sims. The thing is, none of these are locks to be WR1’s. Woods struggled heavily with the Tennessee Titans offense last year, and it seems that he may be better off in a WR2 role – where he has done very well in the past, particularly with the Los Angeles Rams. Brown did fairly well last year with the Dallas Cowboys when he had to take on a bigger role due to injuries, but it’s unclear if he could take on that role full-time.
Where’s the WR1?
As can be seen, there’s not really a wideout currently on the team who’s a lock to replace the void left by Cooks. Maybe Brown or Woods could fill the role, but that’s a big maybe – based off last year, Woods is not a solid bet to do that. Brown could pan out either way. The Texans did sign Dalton Schultz at tight end, which is helpful, but the question mark at wide receiver still remains. If you want your rookie quarterback to start right out of the gate and produce well, you do need to make his job easier by making him not have to do everything because of a shaky supporting cast.
Addressing in the Draft
The Texans are in the fortunate position of having an additional first-round pick – No. 12 overall (courtesy of the Cleveland Browns) – as well as an early second-round pick. They have multiple needs to address, but they should use one of those picks to get a rookie wide receiver to pair Young or Stroud with – one that could be a WR1, or WR2 at worst, out of the gate.
This may not be the most ideal draft class ever for that, but there will be some guys available in the Draft who could fill in that role. Quentin Johnson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are profiling as two of the top all-around options in the Draft. If they chose to wait until the 33rd overall pick (given the variety of other needs they have, one couldn’t blame them for doing so if a better option is there at the 12th pick), options like Jalin Hyatt or maybe Jordan Addison could be available. Players like those may not be able to step into a WR1 role as easily. That said, the speed that some of this year’s options have could help add a more explosive dimension to the offense either way.
In Conclusion
The Texans have a lot of work to do, and they almost certainly will not be playoff contenders in 2023. That said, you don’t want to throw your rookie quarterback to the wolves without a decent supporting cast to work with. The goal at this point should be to have fans excited for 2024 by the end of the 2023 season – and if the offense struggles because Young or Stroud doesn’t have adequate weapons, that won’t happen (and that’s of course not including the possibility that Young or Stroud has a tough learning curve anyway, as plenty of rookies do). Adding a good option in the Draft may not immediately answer all the question marks for the Texans wide receivers, but it should at minimum help ensure the quarterback has a better variety of weapons to work with.
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