While the Houston Texans’ offense was lackluster at best against the Cleveland Browns in Week 13, wide receiver Nico Collins managed to snag enough receptions to set his career high in yardage and catches in a season in the matchup. collins burst onto the scene this year as a much-needed contributor on offense and has proven over the course of 12 games that he is a force to be reckoned with.
The Alabama native was a third-round selection by the Texans in last year’s draft class and caught 33 passes for 446 yards as a rookie in 2021. This season, he has brought in 37 passes for 481 yards, including three of those receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown against the Browns in Sunday’s action.
These numbers likely won’t get Collins on the All-Pro squad at the end of the year, but they are an indication that his trajectory is trending up, even as the Texans’ fortunes on the whole are in a tailspin. He has not had the benefit of particularly good quarterback play to this point in his career, and especially in the 2022 season where he has caught passes from Davis Mills and, more recently, Kyle Allen.
His counterpart on the outside, Brandin Cooks, was inactive for the Week 13 tilt, which opened the door for Collins to take on an expanded role in the offense. He was targeted no less than 10 times in the game, and scored the Texans’ only touchdown on a pass from the aforementioned Allen.
With more performances like the one he turned out against Cleveland, Collins could soon find himself as one of Houston’s brightest offensive stars in an offense that should feature a premium quarterback prospect next year. If he can keep his head up through all of the ups and downs of the Texans’ rebuild, he might prove to be the team’s best offensive weapon.