The Houston Texans are 0-2 to start the season, and unfortunately, with two losses by a double digit margin, the team looks, in many ways, like the last two versions of the Texans, in 2021 and 2022. The big difference, of course, is their rookie quarterback, C.J. Stroud, is getting widely lauded for how quickly he is adapting to the speed of the NFL.
Stroud’s advancement as a player s encouraging. Of course, it eventually needs to translates to wins, for the sake of our collective sanity. That said, while there are a vast majority of Houston Texans who need to pick up the pace a bit, there are a few early season standouts. The purpose of this post is to recognize those early achievers, and we shall use the performance grades from Pro Football Focus to do so.
Here are this week’s Fab Five Houston Texans:
5. GEORGE FANT, RT, 70.8 (22nd of 71 tackles)
The Texans lost starting right tackle Tytus Howard to a broken hand early in training camp, and brought in Fant as a street free agent shortly thereafter, and he’s filled in a admirably based on the expectations for a guy brought in after training camp had begun. Last week against the Colts, he battled through a shoulder injury suffered in Week 1 in Baltimore. Thus far, he’s allowed one sack and seven pressures, while pass blocking for one of the most pass happy teams in the league this season.
4. WILL ANDERSON, Jr.,, EDGE, 72.1 (35th of 107 edge defenders)
Anderson’s overall grade is buoyed by his Week 1 performance in Baltimore, in which he was arguably the best defensive rookie in the league that week. Week 2 was mroe of a struggle for Anderson, who had a QB hit on the first play of the game, and was largely silent after that. The arrow is still pointed way up on Anderson’s stock, but the game in Jacksonville this weekend will be a big one for him, as the Jaguars have a below average offensive line.
3. STEVEN NELSON, CB, 84.2 (3rd of 98 cornerbacks)
Nelson’s offseason was one of the more noteworthy ones for current Texans, as he very publicly bashed general manager Nick Caserio on social media for his attire choice of wearing a vest year round (yes, you read that correctly). The thought was that Nelson was angry over his contract not being extended. Fortunately, the Texans found some middle ground with Nelson, gave him some achievable incentives for 2023, and made him a captain. (Again, yes, read that correctly.) Nelson has responded with an outstanding first couple games, including an interception of Lamar Jackson in Week 1, and a passer rating allowed of just 40.3.
2. TAVIERRE THOMAS, CB, 87.5 (2nd of 98 cornerbacks)
Thomas has been an underrated performer for the Texans since arriving in 2021. During that time, he’s been one of the higher graded slot cornerbacks in the league, and two weeks in, he is graded as the second best cornerback by PFF. He’s allowed just 5.3 yards per reception, but more importantly has been very solid in his tackling. Unfortunately, he broke his hand against the Colts, so his status remains up in the air moving forward.
1. NICO COLLINS, WR, 89.0 (4th of 113 wide receivers)
Collins was one of the best players for the Texans during training camp, and it has translated incredibly early in the regular season. Thus far, Collins has put up games of 80 yards and 146 yards in Weeks 1 and 2, giving two of the best three single game performances of his NFL career. Collins has quickly built a rapport with C.J. Stroud, and has become, along with Robert Woods, Stroud’s key target on third down. The only thing preventing Collins from a 1,000 yard season would be health, which has been a major issue his first two years, in which he missed 10 out of 34 possible games.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
