Texas wide receiver Tank Dell is expected to play against the Lions despite a back injury, questionable placement

HOUSTON — When Texans’ Pro Bowl quarterback CJ Stroud drops back to pass against the Detroit Lions on Sunday night, he’ll have a familiar downfield target.

Tank Dell, who served as the equivalent of WR1 against the New York Jets with Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs sidelined for the first time this season, is expected to play against the Lions after being placed on the injury report on Friday, according to league sources a questionable listing after limited training.

After Diggs’ season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear, Dell caught six passes for a season-high 126 yards against the Jets. He had a season-long 50-yard catch down the sideline and four first downs on nine targets. Collins’ official status is still being determined after he was designated for return Friday morning, had a limited practice with a questionable roster and still hasn’t been reinstated to the active 53-man roster, but the Texans have the prepared to waive him all week, and they did. Dell takes on a primary receiving role.

If Dell is deployed, he remains an explosive wide receiver with a proven track record of creating separation and being a dangerous threat from deep. His production is down compared to his rookie season, when he caught 47 passes for 709 yards and broke Owen Daniels’ franchise rookie record with seven touchdowns. However, Dell’s catches and yards have been increasing recently. He has 30 receptions for 355 yards and two touchdowns, a season pace of 57 catches for 671 yards and four scores. Over the last two weeks, Dell had 10 catches for 141 yards and a touchdown on 13 targets.

“It’s not like we did anything different,” Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said when asked about Dell’s role against the Jets. “He took advantage of some encounters and some plays worked out where we had given him a lot of opportunities in the last three or four weeks. Sometimes you can’t control the coverage. The coverage says we can’t necessarily do it, and it worked out last game when we were able to take advantage of a matchup.”

Although Dell has gotten off to a quiet start after a highly productive rookie season that was cut short by a broken fibula, his targets so far have also been reduced as the emphasis on throwing falls to Collins and Diggs.

“Last year is last year,” Texas quarterback CJ Stroud said. “This is Week 10 of 2024, so we have to give that up and go play this year. I thought it was open every week. We just have to find time to get it to him and I have to throw the right ball to get it to him. He will continue to do great things.”

Now Diggs will get an increased workload and the opportunity to show what he can do in an expanded role.

“I know I have to improve,” Dell said before the Jets game. “I’m not going to give the impression that I don’t have to go out here and do what I have to do. I know I have some shoes to fill. I have to do what I did last year again.”

After recovering from the broken leg, the former third-round draft pick from the University of Houston suffered a gunshot wound as an innocent bystander in a mass shooting at a party in his home state of Florida. He made a full recovery again.

He averages 11.8 yards per catch.

Dell is capable of doing more, and many people close to Dell are confident he will step up to the plate.

Without Diggs and Collins, Dell, Xavier Hutchinson, Robert Woods and John Metchie III were the Texans’ best wide receivers against the Jets.

Dell is inspired to carry the torch and stand up for Diggs, his fallen teammate.

“I know the conversation that me and him had about what we wanted to accomplish for ourselves and the team,” Dell said. “For him to go out like that, I went out like that last year. I know what it feels like to go out and want something so bad and have it taken away from me.

“He wants us to win everything. We all insist that we want to win everything ourselves. We will do it for him. This is our brother, no shady spirit. This is our brother, this is my guy. And he knows we’re ready to go out and rock for him. And if the worlds were switched, I know he would be willing to do it for every single one of us.

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Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com