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How Nico Collins' breakout season is lifting the Texans' offense

How Nico Collins' breakout season is lifting the Texans' offense
Nico Collins has been spectacular this season. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

Through the ups and downs of the first four games, the stellar play of Nico Collins has been the one constant for the Houston Texans.

Collins had a career-high 12 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown Sunday to help the Texans (3-1) rally for a 24-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He leads the NFL by a wide margin with 489 yards receiving and is the first player in franchise history with more than 450 yards receiving though the first four games. New York Giants rookie Malik Nabers was second entering Monday night’s games with 386 yards.

Sunday was the eighth career 100-yard game for Collins and his third this season.

The great start by Collins, who is in his fourth season, comes after his breakout 2023 where he had a career-high 1,297 yards receiving.

After his big game Sunday, quarterback C.J. Stroud recalled the first time he worked out with the receiver after being drafted second overall by the Texans last year.

“I told him: ‘You’re a superstar, and I’m going to make sure people know that,’” Stroud said. “I feel like ever since then, he’s had a swagger and a confidence … and it’s just rolling now. He’s been big for us. He’s always somebody that I lean on.”

Collins has remained Stroud’s favorite option this season despite the blockbuster offseason trade for four-time Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs.

Coach DeMeco Ryans couldn’t say enough good things about the performance of Collins.

“He’s deserving of all the praise and all the credit that he’s getting,” Ryans said. “He’s one of the top receivers in the league, and he’s showing it. He doesn’t have to talk it; he’s showing it by what he does on a game-to-game basis. He’s proving that he’s one of the best.”

Collins was asked what it’s like to hear so many people praising his play.

“It doesn’t feel real,” he said. “Those are the type of achievements you want to have. It’s early, but it’s a great position to be in right now. I feel like, for me, just continue to be myself, don’t get comfortable and continue to build, find that 1 percent.”

What’s working

Houston’s passing game, led by Stroud and Collins continues to be the team’s strength. Stroud had a season-high 345 yards passing with two touchdowns Sunday to become the seventh quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 300 yards seven times through their first 19 games.

Sunday was Stroud’s eighth game with multiple passing touchdowns and no interceptions, tying Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson for the most by a player age 22 or younger in NFL history.

What needs help

The Texans had 12 penalties for 93 yards Sunday to give them 35 penalties combined in their past three games. They have 40 overall this season, which is the most in the NFL through Sunday’s games.

Ryans is tired of talking about these mistakes week after week.

“A lot of them are just bonehead penalties that are uncalled for,” he said. “You don’t need those. They’re not helping us at all. We still have positive things that happen to us, and we’re going backward … it seems like I’m a broken record every time I step up here (but) the Texans have to get out of the Texans’ way for us to be a good team.”

Stock up

RB Dare Ogunbowale’s 1-yard touchdown reception with 18 seconds left Sunday lifted Houston to the victory. It was the first TD since 2022 for Ogunbowale, whom the Texans relied on Sunday with running backs Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce out with injuries.

Ogunbowale had an important guest at Sunday’s game in sister Arike Ogunbowale, who plays for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings.

“It was special,” he said. “Anytime I get to see her up there is fun. I get to go to her games; she gets to go to my games. We’re just living our childhood dreams and for her to be up there while I was able to make some plays was fun.”

Stock down

LT Laremy Tunsil had two holding penalties, both in the fourth quarter, on Sunday. Those penalties come after the veteran was flagged six times in last week’s loss to the Vikings. Tunsil has 12 penalties this season, including seven false starts.

Injuries

Mixon missed a second game Sunday and Pierce was out for a third straight week. Mixon returned to practice in a limited capacity Friday and could be available this week. … WR Tank Dell missed Sunday’s game with chest and hand injuries.

Key number

8 — Although Collins is Stroud’s top option, Stroud has done a good job of spreading the ball around and eight different players had at least one reception Sunday.

Next steps

The Texans host the Bills on Sunday where Diggs will face his former team for the first time since the trade. Diggs spent the past four seasons in Buffalo where he had more than 1,100 yards receiving each year, highlighted by an NFL-leading and career-high 1,535 yards in 2020.

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What does the future hold for the Astros and Alex Bregman? Composite Getty Image.

With MLB free agency upon us, the Astros have some big decisions to make as they try to put the best possible roster together for the 2025 season.

We all know Alex Bregman's future is the big topic of conversation for Astros fans this offseason, but some other notable players are also free agents. That list includes Justin Verlander, Yusei Kikuchi, Kendall Graveman, Jason Heyward, Hector Neris, Ben Gammel, and Caleb Ferguson. (Houston also released Jose Urquidy on Monday, and he has already cleared waivers).

And while it's hard to have confidence that the Astros will be willing to pay what Bregman will command on the open market (around 6-years, $150 million to 7-years, $185 million), one thing could be working in Houston's favor.

Demand for a top dollar third baseman may not be as high as Bregman and his agent Scott Boris were hoping for. SportsMap's Charlie Pallilo goes through all the team's with a need for a player like Bregman and only sees a few matches that make sense.

Especially if the Yankees spend big on Juan Soto. With them out of the picture, it could be tough for Breggy to find the type of contract he's looking for as a third baseman.

There are some teams that could definitely use his services, like the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays for example. But the Mariners have been reluctant to commit that type of money to offense, and if winning is important, would Breggy go to Toronto?

Now, if Bregman is willing to move to second base, that could open up some more possibilities. We'll dive into that more in the video below.

Silver Slugger finalists

Could the Silver Slugger finalists influence owner Jim Crane's approach in free agency? Here's why we bring this up. The World Champion LA Dodgers have 5 finalists this year. The Astros have 4 (Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Bregman, Yainer Diaz), and likely would have had 5 if not for the injury to Kyle Tucker.

Even if the Astros were to move on from Bregman, that would still leave them with 4 possible finalists once again in 2025. Considering how much money the Dodgers spend each year, the fact that the Astros roster is still comparable to the Dodgers might add to Crane's belief that this team doesn't need another splashy move to win a World Series.

They may just need to get a little better on the margins to get this team back in serious contention for a title.

This is one video you don't want to miss as we examine all the possible landing spots for Bregman, how that impacts Houston's chances at bringing him back, and what overall strategy we should expect from Dana Brown and the Astros this offseason.

*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo discuss varied Astros topics. The post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon. Find all via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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