Nico Collins named most important non-quarterback for the Texans

The Houston Texans have a ton of talent on both sides of the ball going into 2024. Derek Stingley and Will Anderson are both top-five overall draft picks, Laremy Tunsil is the highest-paid left tackle in the league and C.J. Stroud might be the next big thing at the quarterback position.

However, last season there were times when all of them were outshined by wide receiver Nico Collins, a third-round pick from the 2021 draft class. Collins had a relatively quiet first couple of seasons, averaging around 460 yards and 1.5 touchdowns per year. He enjoyed a serious breakout season in 2023, though - coinciding with getting a major upgrade at the quarterback position. Paired with Houston's rookie sensation at QB, Collins put up 109 receptions with a very sharp 73.4% catch rate, averaged over 16 yards per reception and scored eight touchdowns.

Heading into 2024 Collins has been named the most important non-quarterback on Houston's roster by Vinnie Iyer at The Sporting News.

"Collins now has some more playmaking company in Stefon Diggs, but Collins was rewarded for his 2023 breakout season like a No. 1. He signed a three-year, $72.75 million deal, locking him up as C.J. Stroud's go-to guy."

We like Collins as a moderately spicy pick, here. Considering what they gave up to trade for Stefon Diggs one has to think he could become Stroud's No. 1 target this year. That's not a guarantee though - if Stroud ends up having a better chemistry with Collins we can't rule out him continuing to get the most targets on the team. If nothing else, Collins has a whole year of experience ahead of Diggs in this department. Collins is also a damn-good route runner and adding Diggs should guarantee he doesn't see any double teams, which might even raise his ceiling.

Then again, Collins has no shortage of competition even if you were to take Diggs out of the picture. Tank Tell is a highly-underrated receiver and he wound up posting 709 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie in just 11 games. And then there's tight end Dalton Schultz, who is one of the game's best pass-catching tight ends - he posted 59 catches, 539 yards and five touchdowns.

That's a lot of mouths to feed - a good problem for offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik to have.