The Houston Texans have enough on their front burner — offensive line issues and the Lions coming to town at the top of the list — to where the season ending injury to Stefon Diggs has not really been a topic since DeMeco Ryans informed us all that Diggs was done for the season last week.
With Tuesday being the team’s day off, this is a good time to sit back and digest an injury that really, really hurts this team, on the field and in the locker room. So here are the four big questions I have, now that we’ve had a chance to digest Diggs’ absence:
What does it mean for the Texans’ offense moving forward?
Well, we’ve had a full game to digest it, last Thursday against the Jets, and it wasn’t good, although with the pass protection as poor as it is right now, I don’t know that Diggs would have been much help. What it does mean, for postseason prospects, is that the Texans will absolutely need a healthy Tank Dell and a healthy Nico Collins to get anywhere beyond the divisional round. Perhaps Robert Woods is able to take up some of the slack as a veteran chain mover on third down, but so far, John Metchie and Xavier Hutchinson are not where the Texans need them to be, in terms of development.
How does the trade grade out?
The Texans gave up the Vikings’ second round pick in the 2025 draft for Diggs and a couple Day 3 picks. Obviously, eight good games is not a great return on that deal, but let’s see how the rest of the season plays out. I don’t know how to quantify leadership on a draft value chart, but Diggs was one of the best leaders in the building during his time here, and depending how much he plans to be around the team, there may be some ancillary value in him helping with the wide receivers on game day from the sideline. Again, ithe esoteric, leadership stuff doesn’t make the trade math make sense, but it does mitigate some fo the damage.
Does this affect the trade deadline?
We will find out today! The NFL trade deadline is at 3 p.m. Houston time, and it’s been fascinating watching the needs of the team evolve, particularly through the lens of the fan base. Three weeks ago, with Kamari Lassiter and Jimmie Ward both out injured, defensive back was thought to be the major need. Then, down goes Diggs with his injury, and people are shopping for wide receivers. And don’t get me started on the offensive line. Some names to watch at wide receiver would be Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne, who was in San Francisco as a young player when DeMeco Ryans was there, and also Raiders WR Jakobi Myers, who was drafted by the Patriots’ front office, when Nick Caserio was there.
Do the Texans bring him back?
This is the big question, and in a weird way, the ACL tear makes Diggs more affordable, for a team that’s going to have increasingly more difficult salary cap gymnastic to execute as guys like Derek Stingley, Will Anderson, and C.J. Stroud are up for contract extensions in the coming years. If Diggs is willing to come back on a one year deal, with a respectable salary, and some incentives for stats and playing time, I could see the Texans doing that. It needs to be highlighted that Nick Caserio and DeMeco Ryans REALLY seemed to like the version of Diggs they had here, and that’s a big part of what matters.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
