The Houston Texans passing offense continues to be one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 NFL season, with rookie QB C.J. Stroud continuing to play at a very high level. One of the biggest reasons why Stroud has seen so much success during his rookie campaign has been the stellar play of WR Nico Collins, who currently sits as fantasy football‘s WR21 in PPR formats.
However, last week, Collins missed his first game of the season with a calf injury. That means we need to take a closer look at the most recent injury update we have on Collins and the potential fantasy impact of his injury on this Texans offense.
Latest Injury Update on Nico Collins
According to a recent report from Aaron Wilson, Collins returned to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday. Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans didn’t provide much further information regarding Collins status heading into Week 11 during his press conference on Wednesday when he said, “We’ll see where Nico is throughout the week.”
Will Collins Play This Week?
Another recent report from Wilson on Wednesday detailed that Collins said, “he’s good to go feels great and ready for Sunday’s game” when speaking about his availability for Houston’s Week 11 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.
Fantasy managers would normally need to keep a close eye on Collins’ participation in practice throughout the week. But if he himself said that he’s feeling great and expects to play on Sunday during the first practice of the week, then we can feel pretty confident that he’ll take the field in Week 11.
What Does This Mean for Tank Dell’s Fantasy Ranking?
With 36 receptions for 631 yards and four scores in eight games this season, Collins has been a consistent cog in this Texans offense throughout the year. He got off to a fast start with a pair of performances of seven receptions, 100+ yards, and a score through the first four games of the year. Yet, he’s cooled off a bit prior to suffering his calf injury.
Sure, Collins has still managed to produce multiple double-digit fantasy performances since the month of October, but he hasn’t caught more than four passes or seen more than six targets in a game since Week 4.
I’m not suggesting Collins isn’t still a top-25 wide receiver when he’s in the lineup, but his recent usage could bring into question who the actual top receiving option is in Houston between him and rookie WR Tank Dell.
Since Dell has returned to the lineup after suffering a concussion earlier this season, he has caught 15 passes on 29 targets over the last three games. If you shrink that sample size down to the last two weeks, he has seen a minimum of 11 targets in each.
Dell is a top-25 WR option if Collins is out but still falls inside the top 35 even if he’s active.
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