Jan 11, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (12) celebrates a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers in the second quarter in an AFC wild card game at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Houston Texans' Roster Faces One Major Question Mark

Originally posted on Houston Texans on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated May 27, 2025 1:30 PM ET

In recent months, the Houston Texans have made sure to stay busy this offseason in their efforts to improve and change this roster around the edges in an effort to find an improved result from the past two postseasons in a divisional round loss.

And for the most part, the Texans did exactly that.

The offensive line looks to be in a vastly different place than it was 12 months ago, the defensive unit saw an assortment of complementary additions, and even on the coaching side, new offensive coordinator Nick Caley should bring a brand new, innovative mind to the sidelines to help C.J. Stroud reach levels similar to his rookie campaign.

In all, a productive set of offseason moves for Houston to help the arrow point in the right direction for 2025.

However, in the eyes of ESPN analyst Ben Solak, there is one major question looming over the Texans' head as we get closer and closer to the kickoff of next season: Who will be the offense's WR2?

"Entering last season, the Texans' target hierarchy was clear: Nico Collins, then Tank Dell, then Stefon Diggs, then Dalton Schultz. Entering this season, it is anything but clear. Collins and Schultz are still around, but Diggs joined the Patriots and Dell's major knee injury leaves both WR2 and WR3 spots up for grabs... For the two open battles, the Texans drafted two rookies, both from Iowa State: Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. They'll compete with Christian Kirk for a suddenly large pile of targets. Houston desperately needs to be able to punish teams that double-cover Collins and must hit on one of those rookies -- or see a big post-injury resurgence from Kirk -- to pull it off."

The Texans' wide receivers, like a few other position groups on this roster, saw a big overhaul compared to what the room had seen across 2024.

The team brought in a pair of Iowa State rookies with Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel as long-term options to grow alongside Stroud, and even traded for Jacksonville Jaguars wideout Christian Kirk as a veteran component to fill in the slot.

Compared to what Stroud had to work with at the tail end of next season due to big injuries, with Nico Collins basically being on an island as a starting-end wide receiver, it's a nice step in the right direction, yet it still leaves you wondering who will be the second option next to the Texans' Pro Bowl pass-catcher with both compelling veteran and young playmakers in the mix.

With OTAs rolling this week and training camp not too far in the distance, we'll start to see how this Texans depth chart at receiver works itself out in due time. Until then, Caley's order of operations in this passing offense may remain a mystery.

This article first appeared on Houston Texans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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