Texans rookie WR Nico Collins represents potential silver lining in 2021

The Houston Texans did not exactly emerge as big winners from last week’s 2021 NFL draft. From one NFL executive saying “I don’t know what the hell they’re doing,” to most publications giving Houston grades ranging from B to C-. This isn’t necessarily a surprise considering that the team had more holes than they every could have filled during one draft.

Beyond the highly controversial selection of Stanford quarterback Davis Mills with the team’s first round picks, new general manager Nick Caserio has taken fire for one other move. The hefty price paid to move back into the third round for Michigan receiver Nico Collins.

Despite how fun it may be to clown the Texans for the national media (and no doubt, they deserve it) a week of retrospection and a quick look at the Texans’ roster reveals that Collins’ selection may actually be the silver lining for what many Houston fans considered a ‘lost’ draft with no first or second rounders.

Collins was a four-star recruit from Pinson, Alabama (same place that produced Zach Cunningham), before playing three years in the Maize and Blue with coach Jim Harbaugh at the University of Michigan. In his junior campaign, before opting out of his senior year due to COVID concerns, Collins’ wracked up over 700 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on his way to being named Michigan’s Offensive Player of the Year.

After working out during quarantine and the fall, he caught the eye of Jim Nagy and the staff of the Senior Bowl. There he drew comparisons to Chase Claypool, a recently dominant rookie wide receiver for the Steelers, and Nagy himself noted that Collins looked faster than he had a year ago.

Collins is no longer a prospect anymore, he’s a Houston Texan. This is a really good thing for a team that boasts one of the NFL’s more average receiving cores. Brandin Cooks is widely respected around the league and well known for having 1,000-yard seasons with now 4 different clubs (previously New Orleans, New England, and the LA Rams). After Cooks, however, the roster looks a little shaky. Veteran Randall Cobb and former resident of Bill O’Brien’s Dog-House, Keke Coutee, project to play the slot while the rest of the group features former fifth-rounder Isaiah Coulter, NFL journeyman Chris Conley, and castoffs such as Donte Moncrief and Alex Erickson.

This position group not only needs help but also has something alarming in common. Nobody is taller than 6-2. The teams formerly mentioned most-talented trio of Cooks, Cobb and Coutee? All stand below 5-11.

Enter the freakishly athletic, 6-4 Nico Collins.

Collins adds an immediate physical presence to the offense and has the potential to be the receiver that can win 1v1 that the team sorely missed following the departure of Deandre Hopkins. His size/speed combo alone should make him the early favorite to secure the WR2 role behind Cooks in two wide-receiver sets and he immediately projects to factor in to red zone packages.

It’s difficult for fans to get excited about Mills as, regardless of the talent that he may have, quarterbacks in the third round and beyond have historically failed to become major contributors. Wide receiver, however, is a totally different game.

Collins may represent one of the lone silver-linings in the Texans’ 2021 season if he can emerge as a consistent physical presence and weapon on the perimeter. The quarterback play may be sub-par, and we’ll see what happens in the Deshaun Watson situation, but that’s rarely stopped talented wide receivers from breaking out in today’s NFL.

In a season where the playoffs may be a long-shot and the roster is a far-cry from the team that won 11 games just three years ago, this season will be primarily about watching younger guys and if they can be part of a winner in the future.

The Michigan product has the size, speed, and pedigree to make an immediate contribution to Houston’s offense and a great chance to show the world that he was well worth the over-pay by Caserio.

Texans fans are going to miss having an explosive player like Will Fuller on the outside, especially after his fifth-year break-out in 2021. Collins may soften that blow.

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