Getty Stefon Diggs reacts in playoff game versus Chiefs.
The Houston Texans helped put an end to Stefon Diggs‘ tumultuous tenure with the Buffalo Bills when they acquired the receiver in a surprising trade.
The surprise wasn’t so much that Diggs was traded, as Houston was the club that pulled the trigger. With a depth chart full of offensive firepower—running backs Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce and receivers Nico Collins, Tank Dell and Dalton Schultz—the Texans were the last team anyone envisioned Diggs landing with.
Diggs feeds off drama, and the Texas team that seems to welcome it is notably the Dallas Cowboys. Yet Houston is about to see what it’s like to have a diva in the locker room for the first time in franchise history. The All-Pro’s flare for the dramatic started well before he was drafted No. 146 overall by the Minnesota Vikings in 2015, and it won’t just suddenly cease.
From skipping mandatory minicamps to cryptic tweets and sideline outbursts, Diggs is a diva of the highest order. If he’s not the focus of an offense and fed the ball accordingly, he will make a scene.
Houston looked the other way regarding Diggs’ checkered character concerns in hopes that production will far outweigh the suffering to come when C.J. Stroud spreads the ball around to his talented pass-catchers.
Nico Collins, Tank Dell Highlight Texans’ Wide Receiver Corps
Pro Football Focus ranked four-year veteran Nico Collins third on their list of highest-graded wide receivers from the 2023 season. Collins, 25, earned an elite 91.4 PFF grade after not surpassing a 75.0 mark in his first two seasons.
“Collins ranked second in the NFL with an average of 3.11 yards per route run in 2023,” Gordon McGuinness wrote on Feb. 24, 2024. “It was a career year for the third-year Michigan product, who dropped just four of the 130 catchable passes thrown his way and forced 22 missed tackles on 126 receptions.”
Further down the list is No. 15 Tank Dell, who enjoyed an outstanding rookie season before sustaining a broken leg that sidelined him for the remainder of 2023.
According to McGuinness, Dell’s 2.22 yards per route run trailed only L.A. Rams’ Puka Nacua among rookie wideouts.
Oddly enough, Stefon Diggs didn’t make PFF’s Top-20 list, but he should have. Had he made it, Diggs’ 81.1 grade would’ve put him smack dab between Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Mike Evans and then- Arizona Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
With Collins, a healthy Dell and the incomparable Diggs, this corp of wide receivers will be tough to defend in 2024.
Nico Collins Is in for a Big Payday With or Without Texans
The Houston Texans struck gold when they mined Nico Collins in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft. Heading into the final year of his rookie contract, he’s in for a massive payday whether from Houston or another lucky club.
Injuries derailed Collins’ first two seasons when he was featured in 24 of 34 games (15 starts), producing 927 yards and just three touchdowns. But he reveled in a break-out 2023 season. Having then-rookie Tank Dell taking attention away helped Collins to a career 1,297-yard, eight-touchdown campaign. With that, Collins became the fourth player in franchise history to reach 1,000 receiving yards, joining Brandon Cooks, DeAndre Hopkins and Andre Johnson.
“I’ll get a question here very soon about Nico Collins — that’s coming,” general manager Nick Caserio said from the NFL Scouting Combine in February. “That could be a player that maybe he’s a part of the future. You’re dealing with the present. You’re focused on the short term. But part of our responsibility is to kind of think ahead a little bit and just try to make good sound decisions for the team and the organization.”
Caserio’s unprompted statement seems to indicate if the extension comes, it won’t be this offseason. The timing will give Collins a season to prove that 2023 wasn’t just a flash in the pan. According to Spotrac, Collins’ current market value is $22.9 million. Should he meet or exceed his junior-year production, his stock could increase.