Texans sign the offensive tackle and waive Jaylon Thomas.
In a matter of two seasons, the Houston Texans have elevated from one of the worst, most maligned receiving corps to the single best, most highly rated trios in the league. The days of Brandin Cooks as the far and away WR1 are far in the past. On this roster, a 2021 Cooks wouldn’t be considered WR3.
Bleacher Report recently released their fourth edition of their Top Trios of Wide Receivers Entering the 2024 season. They duly ranked your Houston Texans at the top of the league citing “all three of his top wideouts could put up huge numbers and contest for Pro Bowl spots as they establish themselves as the NFL’s best receiving corps”.
That led to an intriguing thought… how have the past top-rated trios before the season began performed? Considering the ongoing curiosity and intrigue how C.J. Stroud will fare trying to feed so many mouths this season, it is helpful to gauge how these top rates triplets have performed throughout the season.
2023: Cincinnati Bengals: Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd
- Ja’Marr Chase: 145 targets, 100 receptions, 1,216 yards, 7 TDs
- Tee Higgins (only 12 games played): 76 targets, 42 receptions, 656 yards, 5 TDs
- Tyler Boyd: 98 targets, 67 receptions, 667 yards, 2 TDs
2022: Cincinnati Bengals: Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd
- Ja’Marr Chase: 134 targets, 87 receptions, 1,046 yards, 9 TDs
- Tee Higgins: 109 targets, 74 receptions, 1,029 yards, 7 TDs
- Tyler Boyd: 82 targets, 58 receptions, 762 yards, 5 TDs
2021: Dallas Cowboys: Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup
- Amari Cooper: 104 targets, 68 receptions, 865 yards, 8 TDs
- CeeDee Lamb: 120 targets, 79 receptions, 1,102 yards, 6 TDs
- Michael Gallup: 62 targets, 35 receptions, 445 yards, 2 TDs
[Note: Dalton Schultz was also on this team and recorded 104 targets, 78 receptions, 808 yards, and 8 TDs. So yes, it’s possible for Schultz to feast too in Houston’s offense]
Unfortunately, Bleacher Report’s article doesn’t go past 2021. Based on the trio of trios, modern NFL offenses are capable of feeding all three wide receivers a healthy portion of targets.
There’s a significant drop off between the second and third wide receiver’s production in each offense. Cincinnati’s Tyler Boyd and Dallas’ Gallup were the hands down third receiver on their team and received a commensurate number of receptions.
The thing is, Houston doesn’t have a designated third wide receiver. Tank Dell, coming off a sensational streak before ending the season with a broken leg, is a bona fide WR1 for most teams. In Houston? It’s too early to tell.
The 2021 Dallas Cowboys didn’t have a true slot receiver like Houston has with Tank Dell. They deployed a young CeeDee Lamb in the slot as a cheat code.
The Houston Texans triplets best match the Bengals former combination of receivers; Tee Higgins is the big middle of the field target with long strides and great catch radius, Ja’Marr Chase is their Stefon Diggs with his elite hands and route running, while Tyler Boyd is their shifty slot receiver who can spread the field and go deep similar to Tank Dell.
The 2024 season will be a case study for future teams in defining how to not only attack opposing defenses with three legitimate elite receivers, but also how to ensure all three are kept happy. Houston didn’t pay Nico Collins handsomely just to see him as a middling wide receiver. Houston didn’t trade quality draft capital for Stefon Diggs to play second fiddle. And Houston didn’t draft Tank Dell to be a decoy.
Houston has the best problem an offense could ask for. Based on the past three seasons of top-flight wide receiver threesomes, Houston is in for an incredible treat.