Tag: Will Fuller suspension

Texans to allow WR Will Fuller to test free agency

The Houston Texans won’t be using the franchise tag on receiver Will Fuller, thus allowing him to test the free agent market.

The Houston Texans have no plans to use the franchise tag on Will Fuller, preferring to let the receiver test the free agent market.

Fuller was coming off of a career year with 53 receptions for 879 yards and eight touchdowns. Fuller was even healthy through the first 11 games of the 2020 season. However, with five games remaining, he was suspended five games for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drug policy. Not only did the former 2016 first-round pick from Notre Dame miss the last five games of the season, but the final game of his suspension will be served in Week 1 of 2021. Meaning, he is guaranteed to not complete a 16-game season, a feat he has never accomplished in his career.

The subtle part of Fuller getting away from the Texans is the club may not have any plans to keep Watson, or they don’t care what he thinks. Fuller was one of the players Watson would be campaigning to bring back in 2021.

“I’m definitely going to be on that with the organization and with him,” Watson told reporters on Jan. 4. “I actually saw him before I came in today and we sat and talked in the parking lot a little bit. We’re all on the same page in what we want to do and hopefully we can get him back with (Randall) Cobb and Brandin (Cooks) here and get some other guys, some other pieces that can help us out and we can really take another step, especially offensively.”

If the Texans are allowing Fuller to hit free agency, it means they have other plans to step forward offensively, which could be a step back as the team is on the verge of entering a rebuilding phase.

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Chad Hansen, Keke Coutee breakout performances suggest Texans should let Will Fuller walk

With Houston Texans WRs Keke Coutee and Chad Hansen exploding in the absence of Will Fuller, it does not bode well for Fuller getting an extension.

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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Texans DC Anthony Weaver says he had no reaction to Will Fuller, Bradley Roby suspensions

Houston Texans defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver found the suspensions of WR Will Fuller and CB Bradley Roby on par for 2020 and had no reaction.

The suspensions of receiver Will Fuller and cornerback Bradley Roby stunned the Houston sports community, but there was one Texans assistant coach who didn’t get worked up over the losses.

Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver told reports Thursday that when he learned of the six-game suspensions of Roby and Fuller, which will keep them out of the Texans’ final five games, he just took it in stride.

“Honestly, this year in particular I didn’t have much of a reaction at all,” Weaver said.” Those type of things are actually unsurprising.”

2020 has been a strange year from COVID-19 knocking out the offseason to having no preseason games to Houston starting 0-4 to coach Bill O’Brien getting fired. The Texans have had so many emotional triggers throughout the calendar year that the blinker may be broken.

Although Weaver didn’t have a reaction Monday night, he does know how much Roby meant to the defense as a cover corner, and they will have to find solutions from within.

“It’s unfortunate,” said Weaver. “He’s a very good player. He’s been very productive for us, but we’ve been in this situation before. We were without him in Jacksonville and we went out there and we delivered a victory. Nothing changes.”

Roby was out for the Week 9 game against Jacksonville, and the Texans cobbled together a solution at cornerback with Phillip Gaines and Keion Crossen for a 27-25 win.

“The expectations don’t change,” Weaver said. “We’re just going to do everything we can, and the next man has to step up to go out there to try to get a win.”

The Texans take on the Indianapolis Colts Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium. A win would give Houston a three-game winning streak and optimism as they seek to backdoor their way into the postseason after a tumultuous start to the season.

What would Andre Johnson do with Will Fuller if he were the Texans general manager?

Former Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson says he would have a conversation with Will Fuller at the end of the season if he were the team’s GM.

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The Houston Texans were determined to bring back Andre Johnson by any means necessary in 2019.

The inaugural Texans Ring of Honor member was hired as an assistant to coach Bill O’Brien, general manager Brian Gaine, and also to the scouting department.

Johnson knows a thing or two about the inner workings of a front office.

If the two-time All-Pro were hired as the Texans’ fifth full-time general manager, he would have to determine what to do with former 2016 first-round receiver Will Fuller, who has had a history of unavailability balanced with high level production.

“To me, I would just sit down,” Johnson said on “The Jake Asman Show” Tuesday. “If it was me running the organization, I would just have to sit with Will and figure out what it was that was going on with the situation.”

The latest situation for Fuller is a six-game suspension due to a violation of the NFL’s performance enhancing drug policy, which ends Fuller’s 2020 campaign with five games to go and will nix him for Week 1 in 2021.

“I think when you sit down and you have those conversations with him, then you can kind of make a decision from there,” said Johnson, is a big believer in Fuller. “I’ve seen Will’s growth over the years. When he’s healthy, he’s a great player and can go out and make a lot of plays. He always seems to find a way to find the end zone. So, I think that’s just a conversation that has to be had with him and ownership and whoever is going to be the next head coach here.”

Fuller’s contract expires at the end of the season. The speedy receiver grew into the role of the No. 1 wideout after the departure of DeAndre Hopkins in the offseason. If the Texans decide to move on from Fuller, quarterback Deshaun Watson may have to develop chemistry with a third different No. 1 receiver in as many seasons.

Will Fuller suspension leaves questions for the Houston Texans now and in free agency

Houston Texans WR Will Fuller has been suspended for violation of the NFL PED policy. It leaves many questions between now and free agency 2021.

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On Monday afternoon, Houston Texans wide receiver Will Fuller was suspended for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drug policy. Fuller immediately took to Instagram to explain the suspension, writing,

The six-game suspension is a serious blow to both the fifth-year wide receiver and the Texans. Just on Thanksgiving, as the Texans seemingly put their season back together with a 41-25 win over the Detroit Lions to improve to 4-7, Fuller led the way with six catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns.

For No. 15, the Notre Dame product was in the midst of a career-season and contract year. The previous four years in Houston had shown both incredible speed and talent, but had been marred by an inability to stay on the field and somewhat inconsistent hands. Suddenly, with Deandre Hopkins traded to the Arizona Cardinals at the start of free agency, it appeared as if Fuller had emerged as the Texans’ new alpha 11 games into the 2020 campaign.

Following Houston’s massive 41-25 victory over the Lions, Fuller had started 11 of 11 possible games and gathered 53 receptions on 75 targets for 879 yards and 8 touchdowns. With five games to go those totals represented career-highs in targets, receptions, yardage and touchdowns.

The suspension will certainly hinder Fuller’s value on the open market this upcoming offseason as he chases a pay-day whether it be from Houston or somewhere else. Teams may question the validity of the physical phenomenon that had emerged as Deshaun Watson’s No. 1 target. Before 2020, Fuller hadn’t played in more than 11 games since his rookie season with quarterback Brock Osweiler. Additionally, the six-game suspension will carry into the 2021 season, assuming Houston misses the playoffs.

For the Texans, losing their No. 1 receiver will serve them no favors as they chase an unlikely wild-card birth. Winners of their last two contests and sitting at 4-7, some fans had begun to wonder whether the team could sneak their way towards a playoff berth, especially if an 8-seed is introduced due to cancellations (Looking at you, Baltimore.)

Despite Watson having a career season, the loss of Fuller will be a huge hurdle for the Texans’ offense, which already struggles to run the football. Loss of their top vertical threat could be devastating in their efforts to beat divisional rivals such as the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans

Realistically, in the long-term, this may aid Houston if the speedster’s value is lowered on the open-market and the team is able to resign the homegrown product at a friendlier cost towards an already complicated salary cap situation. For now, however, it certainly feels as if, even when the Texans win in 2020, they stay losers.

Texans WR Will Fuller suspended 6 games for PED violation

#Texans star WR Will Fuller has been suspended six games for a PED violation. He explains below: pic.twitter.com/C9ddGRDSZ1 – Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 30, 2020 Houston Texans receiver Will Fuller has been suspended six games for violation …

Houston Texans receiver Will Fuller has been suspended six games for violation of the NFL’s performance enhancing drug policy.

According to an Instagram post written on Fuller’s official account, the former 2016 first-round receiver took substances to treat a medical issue in the offseason. Fuller says that he was unaware they were against the league’s policy, even though he trusted that they were.

The suspension will keep Fuller out of the Texans’ final five games of 2020. The fifth-year wideout was a key part of the Texans’ passing game, and Deshaun Watson’s most prolific target.