The Texans recently lost wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a season-ending ACL tear. Despite the veteran representing one of the organization’s biggest offseason acquisitions (as well as signifying the organization’s desire to truly contend), the Texans won’t make any reactionary moves to replace the injured star.
[RELATED: Texans’ Stefon Diggs Suffers Torn ACL]
According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the Texans aren’t expected to make a “big splash” at wide receiver ahead of the trade deadline. Russini’s careful wording seemingly keeps the door open to some kind of WR transaction, but it seems unlikely that the front office will bring in any of the big names that remain available.
This approach could partly be due to the reinforcement the team will soon be receiving in wideout Nico Collins. The Texans are confident the wide receiver will return for the team’s Week 10 showdown with the Lions. If there was any time to add reinforcement, it would have been on Thursday night when the Texans were down to only one top wideout in Tank Dell. That game resulted in a loss, but the Texans can rest easy knowing they’ve already overcome their one-game stint with a decimated depth chart.
When the Texans had all three of their top WRs available, the team was already struggling to give the trio a full workload. Through the first three weeks of the season, Dell never got into more than 70 percent of his team’s offensive snaps; Dell topped that total in all but two of his healthy games in 2023. While the Texans may bring Collins along slowly following his return from a hamstring injury, the team can eventually turn to their duo for a full workload during the stretch run of the season.
Still, the Texans will have to look to the rest of their receivers room to step up with Diggs out of the lineup. Xavier Hutchinson has likely established himself as the team’s third WR, and the Texans also have steady veterans in Robert Woods and John Metchie. Assuming the Texans don’t make an addition to the receivers room, one of those aforementioned wideouts will still be called on to step up.
Why not make a call for Osborn or Thielen?
The Texans could get Dalton Shultz more involved or simply give Mixon more work. They have so many options with that offense that I don’t think they need to panic unless they lose Stroud.