Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins had himself a career season in 2023, becoming the favorite target of quarterback C.J. Stroud and putting up by far his best career numbers in Year 3.
Speaking this week from the Texans' minicamp, Stroud spoke about his connection with the wideout and compared Collins' style of play and potential to that of one of the greatest players in franchise history.
"[Collins is] a generational talent. He's like our age's Andre Johnson, in my opinion," Stroud said, via team transcripts. "Just how fast he is, how he gets in and out of his braces, releases, how strong he is. I think last year was just a preview of what's to come for him."
That is some high praise for a player who's only been in the league for three years and, before this last season, had fewer than 1,000 receiving yards to his name. But Stroud clearly sees unique talent in his WR, enough to put his name next to one of the all-time great NFL wide receivers.
Johnson, who is part of the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, is the Texans' all-time leader in receptions (1,012), receiving yards (13,597) and touchdowns (64).
While Johnson's career numbers earned over a span of 14 years obviously outmatch Collins' output through three years in the league, Collins' 2023 season did put himself in the conversation of the best individual seasons for a Texan on record. The 25-year-old's 1,297 receiving yards rank No. 8 in single-season results, and his eight touchdowns are tied for fifth, with only Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins having had better seasons based on those metrics.
This offseason, Collins was rewarded with a three-year, $72.5 million extension, putting him among the top-10 highest-paid wide receivers in the league. While Collins would have a long way to go to match Johnson in terms of impact on the Texans over the course of a career, keeping him under contract through the 2027 season does ensure Stroud will have his most reliable target around for the foreseeable future.
But while last year Stroud relied heavily on Collins, connecting with him almost twice as much as any other WR, this year is likely to see a different distribution of targets due to a much more crowded unit.
The addition of Stefon Diggs, who had 1,183 yards as the WR1 for the Bills last year, coupled with the return of the Tank Dell, who showed promise as a rookie before breaking his leg in Week 13, means Collins will undoubtedly be sharing targets much more this fall.
But according to Stroud, Collins doesn't mind spreading the wealth, and having multiple high-value receivers lining up together will only improve a passing offense that ranked No. 7 in yards in 2023.
"I think we have like five No. 1s, so that's kind of cool to have. I've had that before in college and now I have it again. It's going to be fun," Stroud said. "Nico, he loves to see everybody else eat, too. His love for his brothers hasn't changed. It's a special feeling to see somebody who deserves to get paid and get what they deserve. I'm just really proud of him."
