The Houston Texans are entering 2023 with arguably one of the weakest receiving corps in the NFL.
The group consists of returning young players Nico Collins and John Metchie and has been bolstered by free agent addition Robert Woods and third-round pick Tank Dell from Houston. It’s left many to wonder how the Texans will build a strong passing attack around rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud.
An underrated component of their offseason has been the addition of former Dallas Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz. It was assumed that Schultz would have a very strong free agent market back in the spring in the range of potentially eight figures or more on a multi-year contract.
TE Dalton Schultz is highly complimentary of the offensive ideas and coaching brought to Houston this off-season:
"All those guys from the Shanahan tree, in my eyes, are really good scheme designers… Top to bottom they've assembled a staff that is top notch."#WeAreTexans
— John Crumpler (@JohnHCrumpler) June 6, 2023
Instead, Schultz settled on a one-year, $6.25 million deal with the Texans. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik comes from a scheme that heavily featured tight end George Kittle and there are many that think Schultz could take on another prominent role as he did previously in Dallas.
Rather than helping an established quarterback as he had with Dak Prescott, Schultz will work to help Stroud get established.
“C.J. is bright man,” Schultz told reporters June 6 after organized team activities. “His attitude and demeanor are kind of understated at times and he walks through pretty humbled like head down, soft voice but you start to interact with him and the kid just oozes confidence. You know everyone is familiar with what he did at Ohio State. The kid is a baller. He throws a nice ball and so far he has been soaking up everything he can from all the offensive coaches in the room. I think the kid has a bright future ahead of him.”
They were very encouraging words for a team that will need multiple of their higher level draft and free agent investments to hit if they’re going to take the next team building step. Schultz’s voluntary presence at OTAs is a huge positive for the potential development of chemistry with Stroud.
The tight end has had at least 89 targets in each of the last three seasons and amassed 198 catches and 17 touchdowns while working with Prescott during that time. Schultz has a good chance to operate again as a natural space finder and can hopefully help to elevate Stroud to the same level that Prescott now operates as a perennial top-10 NFL quarterback.
In addition to quarterback play, Schultz sounds confident that the overall offensive situation should place him in a situation to succeed.
Said Schultz: “Just the scheme coming over from S.F. Just an offense that I have some familiarity with in my past. Obviously everyone has been able to see what they’ve been able to do in San Francisco, so having the opportunity to do similar things here is very intriguing for me at the tight end position especially.”
Dalton Schultz could play a huge part in Dameon Pierce’s sophomore campaign building on the first.
Will definitely help to open up running lanes in Bobby Slowik’s offense pic.twitter.com/IpVVmkg35q
— John Crumpler (@JohnHCrumpler) March 20, 2023
Schutlz’s presence in Houston could be the difference between the Texans having a serviceable receiving group or struggling to move the ball on obvious passing downs. For now, fans should feel genuinely encouraged at both his presence and commentary.
