Will Fuller announcing his suspension on Nov. 30 was a gut punch to the Houston Texans.
The defending AFC South champions were 4-7 and coming off a two-game winning streak. What would they do now that their leading receiver would miss the final five games serving a six-game suspension?
Enter Keke Coutee and Chad Hansen.
Coutee had already made his reentry into the Texans’ passing game in Week 11’s 27-20 win over the New England Patriots. The former 2018 fourth-round pick caught a 6-yard touchdown after slot receiver Randall Cobb left the game with a toe injury.
Coming off a short week and playing the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, Coutee provided two catches for 17 yards.
Against the Indianapolis Colts, despite the 26-20 heartbreaking loss, the former Lufkin Panther had a signature performance with eight catches for 141 yards.
One could dismiss that performance as Coutee going off on the Colts. For some reason, the former Texas Tech Red Raider has found a way to exploit defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus’ schemes. In Coutee’s rookie year, he caught 11 passes for 109 yards in his debut game and then another 11 for 110 and a touchdown in the 2018 AFC wild-card against Indianapolis.
However, Hansen’s breakout game was a little different. The former 2017 New York Jets fourth-round pick had not played a down in the NFL since Dec. 31, 2017, and he had been on the Texans since training camp of 2019. There was no ramp up to his five catches for 101 yards against the Colts; they just manifested immediately in that game.
Fuller will be a free agent at the end of the season. Houston could bring back Fuller, but never has he produced a season that has not been pockmarked with availability issues. In a season where Fuller is healthy and doesn’t miss one of the team’s first 11 games, he gets suspended and has to miss the final five. Given his suspension is six games, that also means he will miss Week 1 of the Texans’ 2021 season, meaning all six of his seasons in Houston are fewer than a full 16 games.
What Houston has is a franchise quarterback in Deshaun Watson that can elevate the game of any receiver. Watson’s favorite receiver is an open receiver, and one that is really to develop chemistry. Fuller already had that with Watson from their first three seasons together, but Hansen and Coutee were working out constantly with Watson during the COVID-19 offseason, following the two-time Pro Bowler wherever he vacationed to put in the time to form cohesion.
Imagine what Watson could do with a real offseason with Hansen and Fuller. Imagine what he could do with a talented rookie taken in the third round.
As long as the Texans have Watson under center, the Texans will have all the tools they need to boost their receiving corps. If Watson has proven anything in 2020, it is that the organization can feel safe in not getting attached to any particular wideout.
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