Injuries and trade reshape WR room

Stroud heads into the regular season with Nico Collins, Xavier Hutchinson, Jaylin Noel (hamstring) and Kayshon Boutte as his top wide receivers, while Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle reports that Tank Dell (knee) will begin the season on IR with a designation to return.

The Texans traded for Boutte from New England after Jayden Higgins tore his ACL, knocking the 2025 second-round pick out for the season. Boutte's 551 receiving yards for the Patriots in the 2025 regular season would have ranked second among Houston's wideouts behind Collins. Hutchinson had a career-high 428 receiving yards during the 2025 regular season, Noel has some intriguing upside as a 2025 third-round pick, and Houston is hoping to get Dell back eventually from the knee injury that sidelined him for the entire 2025 season. Stroud is looking to bounce back after a 2025 campaign in which he threw for career lows in both passing yards (3,041) and touchdown passes (19) during the regular season before coughing up seven turnovers in two playoff games.