The Houston Texans still need help at wide receiver.
According to Kevin Patra of NFL.com, the Texans are in the category of teams that need “a piece or two or three” for their receiving corps to be a good unit.
Like with most of the positions on the Texans’ roster, there are a lot of unknowns at receiver. Will [Brandin] Cooks stand firm on his desire not to be part of another rebuilding year? Given the dearth of free-agent options, WR-needy teams should be checking with Houston on the veteran’s availability. But if the plan is to break in a rookie quarterback, would the Texans want to jettison their best big-play threat? [Nico] Collins is a solid target but hasn’t stayed healthy, and [John] Metchie is a wild card after missing his entire rookie season due to leukemia. Houston has more prominent needs, but adding more young talent to the WR room is on the wish list.
Believe it or not, the category of “a piece or two or three” is one step up from “need immediate help,” which is where it seems like the Texans really are.
More than additional talent, what the Texans could use is consistency from the corps they have. Cooks had one of his worst seasons in terms of health in 2022; he played in 13 games, the second-lowest total of his career. Collins also missed seven games after just missing three in his rookie season. Together Cooks and Collins missed Weeks 8, 14 and 15.
Should the Texans draft a receiver with their additional selection at No. 12 overall, it would demonstrate a willingness to move on from Cooks. The timing would come into question — taking a wideout in the first round and keeping Cooks could indicate Houston might shop the veteran near the end of preseason.
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