Texans WR Confidence Meter: How I Feel Without Nico Collins vs. Bengals

The Houston Texans currently have four healthy receivers on their 53-man roster heading into their Week 2 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, which comes as a result of the latest hamstring injury suffered by Nico Collins in practice earlier this week.

That absence from Collins, as a result, makes for a big hit to this Texans receiver room in a significant game against the Bengals. Houston's already without Jayden Higgins and Tank Dell, who are both on Injured Reserve, and only leaves a handful of targets for C.J. Stroud to turn to in an attempt to match the production of Joe Burrow and Co.

But just how confident can we be in the remaining weapons in the Texans’ offense? Will they be enough for Stroud to put the pieces together for a Week 2 victory, or should Houston have reason to worry about what's ahead?

Let's break down what could be in store for the Texans receiver group in Week 2 by walking through a confidence meter for each wideout; outlining on a scale of 1-10 how confident we should be that those names can keep this passing offense afloat while severely depleted:

Kayshon Boutte

The Texans are going to have to lean on Boutte a bit more in the passing game than they did in Week 1. Houston's newcomer ranked dead last in the room for target rate at 7.7% in Week 1, hauling in just one of one target on 26 routes run for 21 yards throughout the day.

But Boutte provides two traits to the Texans' passing attack that will be coveted without Collins: explosiveness and the ability to line up outside as Houston's X-receiver.

He's going to get a few more routes his way than he did in Week 1 and will be key to Houston getting chunk pass plays down the field as their most potent downfield threat.

Will Boutte be able to turn in respectable numbers against an average Bengals defense? A big day feels like a toss-up more than anything. But there's bound to be at least a couple of big-play opportunities downfield from Stroud on Sunday that may allow for Boutte to post a statement performance early in his Texans tenure.

Confidence Meter: 5/10

Xavier Hutchinson

Hutchinson has been a reliable set of hands to fill in for the Texans in case of injury dating back to last season. He posted a career-best year in 2025 with that expanded opportunity, and will have a good bit of responsibility to bear against Cincinnati with the lack of firepower Houston has to work with.

He won't be the same explosive threat that Boutte is. He averaged less than 13 yards per reception last season with the Texans compared to Boutte's 16.7 yards, but Hutchinson is a tenured name in the building with a ton of established trust baked in with Stroud.

In the three games the Texans had to deal with an injury to Collins in 2025, those were the only appearances in which Hutchinson was able to account for 70% or more of the offensive snaps. In two of those games, he had six or more targets, and will likely see a similar game plan drawn up in his favor this weekend as well.

Of any piece within the Texans' remaining group of wideouts, Hutchinson is the safest bet to invest stock in, and should be able to turn in a pretty strong stat line to end his Week 2 performance against the Bengals as Houston's primary Z-receiver opposite of Boutte.

Confidence Meter: 8/10

Jaylin Noel

Confidence Meter: 6/10

The Texans, who will be in need of some playmakers to support Stroud offensively and stack up with a strong Bengals attack, will roll out their 2025 third-round pick in Jaylin Noel for a much bigger role than he's been used to through his time in the NFL.

So far through his tenure in Houston, he's keyed in on duties as a returner, logging three kick returns against Buffalo. But he's also got the right traits the Texans could use on the offensive end to benefit from his unique skillset. Even further: he's explosive, fast, works well in the slot, and can be especially beneficial without noteworthy targets like Collins, Higgins, and Dell.

Any lack of confidence that he can turn in a nice performance against Cincinnati moreso comes from the Texans' regular hesitancy to give him a big workload offensively since he arrived last season. He only surpassed a 40% offensive snap count once in 2025, and has seen six or more targets in a game only twice.

If Houston wanted to deploy last year's third-round pick for a potential breakout performance, now would probably be the perfect time to do so, and could act as the spark needed for a standout second season altogether.

Jared Wayne

Wayne, the Texans' preseason standout who landed on the team's Week 1 roster, fell fifth in the receiver totem pole in Week 1 with just 24 snaps and eight routes run, posting one catch for 12 yards in the process.

He is a tenured piece in the Texans' building, having been onboard at least via practice squad since 2024, and he does offer some of the upside Houston will be looking for in terms of size while they're without both Collins and Higgins.

So there's at least some reason to look forward to what Wayne could do with an expanded opportunity on Sunday. However, what he could do with a few more targets in his favor remains a mystery. He's recorded just three receptions throughout his three-year career, so this might be the most we've seen of him on the field in a regular-season game with Houston.

Confidence-wise, it's easy to hold reservations about just what Wayne's day might be able to look like. Yet, three to four targets might not be out of the realm of imagination, especially if Houston wants to use his 6-foot-3, 210-pound size to their advantage.

Confidence Meter: 3/10

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