The Houston Texans were a team to watch to see how the pecking order played out at WR. Through three weeks, it appears Tank Dell might be an interesting player to roster and could be worth rostering. Let’s dive into his numbers and see if he’s worth the addition to your fantasy football roster.
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Should Tank Dell Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 3
Week 1 for Dell hardly looked like he’d be a valuable contributor early in 2023, but everything changed. Noah Brown was placed on injured reserve, and Dell suddenly found significant playing time for the Texans. He took that and ran with it for the last two weeks.
Following up on a pedestrian Week 1, Dell has seen 10 targets and seven targets in the last two weeks. He’s posted seven and five catches, 72 and 145 yards, and a TD each week. That’s put him right onto the flex radar despite being just a diminutive third-round rookie WR.
Dell’s usage has been improving but still has room to grow. He’s gone from 48% of snaps to 79% to 61%. While this, on the surface, doesn’t look great, he’s being taken off the field more when the Texans run the ball.
Having a lead likely led to a decreased snap count. Despite Nico Collins playing 66% of snaps in Week 3, he ran fewer pass routes.
Dell is seeing a very valuable role, as he’s running a route on 84% of the Texans dropbacks. He’s also seen 56% of the air yards for the Texans in Week 3, meaning lots of downfield targets.
Since taking over as a starter, he’s at nearly three yards per route run. In games where the Texans trail more, he’ll be an even better play for fantasy purposes.
One area where Dell continues to stand out is as a separator, as he’s currently in the top 15 WRs in target separation. QB C.J. Stroud continues to look his way because he’s able to get open and do so at multiple levels.
Dell is being schemed more and more into the offense, too. His first-read target share has increased each week. Dell was at just 14.8% in Week 1 and already reached 31.6% in Week 3. Combined with his elite separation, he should continue to command a solid target share in the offense.
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The Texans’ WRs have been a pleasant surprise, and Dell is making a case to be the top guy. He’s produced when given the opportunity, and that isn’t going away anytime soon.
Dell is well worth a high-priority claim or decent FAAB bid where available and can be flexed going forward, but it might push toward WR2 status in likely trailing matchups.