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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Mark Lane

Why the Texans should avoid adding veteran receivers to the roster

The Houston Texans could stand to add a veteran receiver to their offseason roster.

So says to Marc Sessler from NFL.com. The “Around The NFL Podcast” co-host pointed out that one of the areas where the Texans could use additional improvement, despite all of their offseason efforts, is at receiver.

I have DeMeco Ryans atop my candidates for Coach of the Year. I expect new offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik to become a household name in time, as his Shanahan-inspired offense takes hold in Houston. Arrow up for C.J. Stroud and the Texans, but the rookie passer’s progress will take time unless the front office finds more help around him. After trading away Brandin Cooks, Houston’s cast of wideouts looms as suspect. Nico Collins is a promising third-year building block. Hope surrounds John Metchie III‘s return from acute promyelocytic leukemia. From there, though, Robert WoodsNoah Brown and a whole bunch of inexperience round out the cast. General manager Nick Caserio isn’t afraid to churn the roster, so expect the Texans to find veteran assistance in time.

No one should fault Sessler for not listing all 13 receivers on the Texans’ offseason roster. However, there is faulty logic in adding a veteran receiver in May.

The Texans need to see what they have in third-rounder Tank Dell and sixth-rounder Xavier Hutchinson. Can they learn the offense? They are the future of the position, even if the Texans were defending Super Bowl champions and not a rebuild. Houston has to get a sense of their return on investment. Adding veterans would help with the “win now” premise, but the Texans would have progress-stoppers that would get in the way of developing younger talent.

Remember Bill O’Brien and his “veteran type of year” approach to 2020? How did that work out?

In order to truly rebuild from what has ailed the Texans, they have to develop a system that cultivates young talent. No better place to start than receiver.

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