Houston Texans Need 'Second Football' With New-Look Roster?

Will the Houston Texans have enough targets to go around? The club wasted no time getting second-year star quarterback C.J. Stroud more than enough targets to compete with. The team is ready to jump to Super Bowl contention, and they didn't play around when it comes to roster building.

The Texans brought in Joe Mixon in the backfield, replacing running back Devin Singletary. They traded for Stefon Diggs, investing a second-round pick to round out a wide receiver corps including Tank Dell and Nico Collins. They also signed tight end Dalton Schultz back on a multi-year deal.

The investment in offensive weapons was a focal point for the Texans this offseason. How will it impact the upcoming season?

ESPN's Bill Barnwell examined one storyline for each AFC team, as he did for each NFC franchise last week. For the Texans, his storyline was simple: The Texans are the most likely team to petition for the use of a second football across the NFL.

As mentioned, the Texans brought in a handful of new targets, and they currently have a wide receiver corps that includes three targets who would be WR1 if they were all on separate teams.

"What will that actually look like on the field, though?" Barnwell asked of all the new targets. "I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the various Houston receivers failed to live up to fan expectations. That's not because of talent or subpar play, but simply because there's going to be only so many targets to go around."

Again, the three starting receivers would each be the top target if they were all placed on separate teams, but that's simply not the case. They'll have more space on the field to make plays consistently, but there is only one football and a handful of targets to go around.

"Consider that Diggs was targeted on more than 29% of the routes he ran in a pass-heavy Buffalo offense last season. That ranked 11th in the league," Barnwell wrote. "Before his fibula injury in December, Dell was targeted on more than 26% of his routes, which ranked 30th. Collins was targeted on nearly 28% of his routes, which ranked 22nd, and that jumped north of 33% after Dell went down injured. That's without factoring in any targets for Schultz, Mixon or any other receivers."

While, on paper, the season won't look as good as it probably should, the overall offensive impact is what matters. If the team is thriving on the offensive side of the ball, individual stats don't matter -- the film will.

"On the field, this doesn't really matter," Barnwell continued. "If the offense works and Houston is winning games, no Texans fan is going to care about how often each receiver is being targeted, nor should they. But with Collins and Diggs both in the final year of their respective contracts and expectations for each receiver sky-high, I'm not sure there's going to be the volume available for each of these standouts to produce what some might be hoping."

It would be entertaining if the team could play with two footballs, and it might please the wide receiver corps, but, again, it doesn't really matter when it comes down to it. Everyone will see targets, and big plays will be made from each of the new offensive weapons.

Stick with TexansGameday for more coverage of the Houston Texans throughout the offseason.

Follow Kade on Twitter.