How Texans’ offense is adapting to ‘gut-wrenching’ loss of Tank Dell: ‘Not easy shoes to fill’

HOUSTON – Between his infectious, high-energy personality and his dynamic performances, diminutiave Texans rookie wide receiver Tank Dell endeared himself to his teammates and coaches during a season cut short by a broken left fibula.

When Dell got hurt underneath a pile of much larger bodies last Sunday, it was a heartbreaking moment for a franchise and fan base galvanized by an exciting downfield threat who set a rookie team record for touchdown catches.

It was an extremely sad moment during an otherwise resurgent and rejuvenating season for a playoff contender that struggled mightily the previous three seasons before hiring coach DeMeco Ryans and drafting quarterback C.J. Stroud and Dell, a third-round selection from the University of Houston.

“It’s gut-wrenching,” Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said. “It hurts. It almost brings a tear, not almost, it did bring a tear to my eye. That one hurts a lot. Not as a football player, it has nothing to do with football. Just as a person, as an individual, he’s a really special kid, and it’s been a joy to have him around. It’s been a joy to have him just be part of what we’ve done this year.

“Really just to see a kid come in with the energy, the enthusiasm, and the hunger he has, and to display the skills that he has, but then also overcome a lot of things that people said they didn’t think he’d be able to overcome. And he really developed into what I would consider one of our best players on offense. I think a lot of the team would say the same thing. That’s what is really hard about football. That one hurts a lot, and those aren’t easy shoes to fill.”

Now that Dell is out for the remainder of the season, the Texans’ passing game is facing a challenge.

How do they replace Dell’s ultra-productive skills?

None of the Texans’ receivers is similar in playing style to Dell, an incredibly gifted route runner who routinely created the most separation of any wide receiver on the roster. At 5-foot-8, 165 pounds, Dell combined speed, quickness, explosiveness and outstanding hands as well as toughness.

The Texans will lean heavily on leading wide receiver Nico Collins. At 6-foot-4, 215 pounds with 4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash, Collins has been dominant at times. He’s coming off a career-high 191 receiving yards and one touchdown on nine catches and a dozen targets against the Denver Broncos. He leads the Texans with 59 receptions for 991 yards and six touchdowns.

The Texans’ second-ranked active pass-catcher is tight end Dalton Schultz with 40 receptions for 455 yards and five touchdowns. Schultz is out for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets with a hamstring injury, marking the second game in a row he’ll miss.

After Collins and Schultz, the Texans’ next most productive receivers are Robert Woods with 30 catches for 326 yards and one score and Noah Brown with 21 catches for 439 yards and one touchdown.

“We’re going to have to step up,” Woods said. “Tank is a great player. He sacrificed his body. He put a lot on the line for all of us. We’re asking guys to do a little bit more, myself included. Everybody just being themselves, making the plays they’re capable of doing: play fast, catch the ball and get in the end zone. C.J. is going to do his job and deliver good balls. We need to get open, create separation and catch the football.”

Dell caught 47 passes for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in just 11 games. Four of the Texans’ league-high 59 catches of at least 20 yards or more came on Dell touchdown receptions. That’s the third-highest mark in the league for any receiver with touchdowns of at least 20 yards.

The Texans also plan to incorporate former second-round wide receiver John Metchie III and rookie wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson.

“Moving forward, we’ve shuffled it feels like almost every position so often this year,” Slowik said. “Same as I’ve said earlier in the year with receivers, we have a group of guys that we feel really good about. They’re all really good to elite in certain areas.

“They all have special traits, and we try as much as we can to play to those skills and to those traits, and we want to take advantage of those. As it relates to Metch and Hutch, it’s kind of the same thing. We think both of those guys do some things very, very well, and we want to take advantage of that and put those guys in positions to do that.”

Collins ranks third in the NFL with 431 yards after the catch. He’s a significantly improved player as his durability has been upgraded and his ability to separate from defenders.

The improvement of Collins, the arm talent of Stroud and the chemistry between a Michigan man in Collins and a former Ohio State Buckeye has been a great combination.

“Nico is not only a great person, but he’s a hard worker,” Stroud said. “He’s somebody who comes in with a working-man mentality. He’s going to do the dirty work. He blocks his tail off. That just shows you how unselfish he is for No. 1 receiver to have to do the dirty work, and a lot of places in the league, you don’t really see that.

“Nico is a great route runner, great at the point of catch, and he’s stepped into a role that I’ve challenged him on in being a leader and things like that, and he’s done a great job with that. So, I’m excited to see his future and be there with him, and I’m really happy for him. That’s my brother and I love him.”

The Texans are accustomed to mixing and matching personnel at receiver. Brown was on injured reserve earlier this season with a groin injury before missing two games with a knee contusion. Dell missed one game with a concussion earlier this season. Woods was sidelined at one point with a foot injury. Collins missed a game with a calf injury.

Metchie missed his entire rookie season after being diagnosed with a treatable form of leukemia.

The Texans put in some plays for the former Alabama standout against the Broncos, and the timing was just a bit off with Stroud.

“We’re really close,” Metchie said. “We think the same. We play the same. We just need more time together. W’ere almost there. When we click, it will be really good.”

Dell had a successful surgery and has been at the Texans’ training complex to visit his teammates and remain a part of what they’re doing.

“Tank is a brother” Metchie said. “He’s one of our brothers, not just our teammate. He knows we’re here with him 100 percent regardless of whether he’s feeling good or feeling bad. I think he will attack his recovery. When he comes back, he’ll light it up.”

Dell got hurt blocking on running back Dameon Pierce’s touchdown run.

There’s been a ton of second-guessing and overreaction to how Dell got injured, but the Daytona Beach, Fla. native was a willing and effective blocker all season. There isn’t much the Texans could do to avoid this from happening, but that hasn’t stopped Slowik from lamenting the situation.

“I mean, if I knew that was going to happen, yeah, one-thousand percent,” Slowik said. “We know everybody kind of has strengths, and everybody has things we don’t necessarily want them doing all the time, but your best players are going to be on the field, especially when they’re involved in the game plan. Like, red zone, third down, Tank is going to have passes. We’re going to get him the ball. We can’t just put him out there only on passes, because that’s almost disrespectful to the other coaches.

“Like, they know that. That’s the first thing you look for. Is someone on the field? And what are they doing? Are they involved in the run game or not? So, we try to help, for sure, keep him away from it. That particular play, that’s one where he’s the furthest receiver out on the backside of a run, and a hole showed, and DP hit it. And that’s one of those that we’ve talked about as coaches all the time, how can we help this? And I don’t really have an answer right now. But, yeah, it hurts.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.