Houston Texans vs. New York Jets: Which receiver will step up?

With the recent news that wide receiver Stefon Diggs suffered a season- (career?)-ending ACL tear this past weekend, the Houston Texans are in need of healthy pass catchers.

WR1 Nico Collins is still on IR, with rumors he could return in Week 10.

This puts Tank Dell in the starting position. Unfortunately, this season's version of Tank Dell isn't nearly as powerful as the rookie edition.

This means that substitutes Xavier Hutchinson and John Metchie III will be used today against the New York Jets.

The Texans have a long history of backup wide receivers who have exciting potential. Unfortunately, the majority never seem to live up to the hope and hype.

Names like Wendall Williams, Vincent Smith, DeVier Posey, Jaelen Strong, Keshawn Martin, Keke Coutee and Braxton Miller fill the Texans' history books with unfulfilled dreams.

Can Hutchinson and Metchie surpass these “colleagues”? If so, then tonight is the night to start.

Unfortunately for the Texans' passing game, the otherwise hapless Jets actually prove that they have a reasonably strong pass defense. Currently, they have given up just 1440 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns through the air in 2024.

Her rushing D is 18.

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Houston Texans (6-2) vs. New York Jets (2-6) (Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video): The Jets rank second in the NFL in pass defense (161.1 passing yards allowed per game), while the Texans rank third this season (164.3). The last time two teams each allowed fewer than 165 yards per game met in Week 9 or later was November 13, 2005 (Baltimore (163.9) at Jacksonville (162.2)).

Texans running back Joe Mixon ran for 102 yards and a touchdown in Week 8 and became the first player in NFL history with 100 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in four of his first five games with one team.

But the Texans can't just rely on Joe Mixon to stardom, because a one-dimensional offense is easy for any defense to thwart. Without the threat of a pass, Mixon will face stacked boxes throughout the game, reducing his effectiveness and increasing his risk of injury.

CJ Stroud has proven to be very adept at distributing the ball, releasing passes to 13 teammates so far this year.

Of those, Hutchinson caught 5 for 64 yards, averaging 12.8 yards per catch and 22 yards after the catch.

Metchie contributed 4 catches for 36 yards, an average of 9.0 yards per catch and 18 yards after the catch.

Neither has seen the end zone so far this year.

Over the course of his short NFL career, Metchie has overcome acute promyelocytic leukemia and has played in two seasons so far. The former Alabama pass catcher caught 20 passes for 194 yards on 30 targets, an average of 9.7 yards per catch and no touchdowns in that span. His reception success rate is a meager 42.9%

Hutchinson has also competed in two relays. Since the Texans drafted him out of Iowa State, Hutch has 13 catches for 154 yards on 29 targets, an 11.8 yards per catch average and no scores. His reception success rate: 24.1%.

Ouch.

Are these seemingly anemic statistics due to a lack of opportunity? Are you not getting enough repetitions in training with the starters? Don't have enough time with the coaches and Stroud to build chemistry and get comfortable with the system? Playing in the shadows of Collins, Diggs and Dell could certainly explain the lack of passes.

However, Collins didn't set the world on fire until Stroud showed up. However, he outperformed both Metchie and Hutchinson combined before Stroud and most of the league afterward.

The NFL's window of opportunity is only open for the blink of an eye in a player's life. Tonight could be the window closing for one or both of these young receivers. But it could also be that one (or both) puts their name on the map of star NFL receivers and rises above the Texans' list of “also-ran” players.

In the meantime:

#InDemecoWeTrust