The Houston Texans have upgraded their offensive weaponry to give second-year quarterback Davis Mills a fair crack at the starting job for the near future, but club hasn’t convinced fantasy owners any of their perimeter players are staples of weekly production.
According to Luke Easterling from the Draft Wire, not a single Texans player made their list of top fantasy football rookies for the upcoming season.
The lack of Texans rookies on the list is understandable. Second-round wideout John Metchie is coming off an ACL tear sustained in Dec. 2021 and may need to get up to speed to even be productive. Even when Metchie is healthy, he will be part of a passing attack that includes wideouts Chris Conley and Brandin Cooks along with an emphasis on tight ends Pharaoh Brown and Brevin Jordan in the red zone. Metchie won’t be the presumptive No. 1; he will be just another piece for Mills to use.
Nevertheless the Atlanta Falcons’ Drake London, who is in the same position as Metchie in terms of coming back from a season-ending injury while adjusting to the NFL, made the list.
Despite a season-ending ankle injury, London put up impressive numbers at USC last year, and still ended up being the first receiver off the board in a loaded class at the position. His combination of size, athleticism and physicality should make him especially effective in the red zone, and he immediately becomes the most talented pass-catcher not named Kyle Pitts on this roster.
A rookie who should have been a candidate for the list running back Dameon Pierce. At some point, coach Lovie Smith and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton are going to realize Rex Burkhead and Marlon Mack can’t be the bell-cow for the offense — they will need to saddle up Pierce. Like Metchie, it may take until the middle of the season for Pierce to get going; he won’t be galloping out of the gate with 100-yard rushing performances.
