Playoff Bound Again? Texans Ride Stroud-Collins Chemistry into 2025

Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins didn’t hold back when talking about his connection with quarterback C.J. Stroud, emphasizing that their cohesiveness is “like taking candy from a baby.” Collins has reached new heights in his career since being united with Stroud as his battery mate, and now, in their third season together, he’s confident that they can become one of the best QB-WR duos in the NFL.

Collins more than doubled his production from 2021 and 2022 in the last two seasons, eclipsing 1,000 yards in 2023 and 2024. As a result, the Texans have gone 10-7 in each of the last two seasons and made the playoffs, losing in the divisional round both years.

Although he and Stroud have become comfortable with each other on and off the field, Collins emphasized that the key to being successful in this league comes from remaining uncomfortable and always striving to improve. Collins missed five weeks in the 2024 season, so remaining on the field and effective will be one of his main priorities this season.

Texans Thin at Wide Receiver

Collins will have added pressure to exceed expectations this season after the Texans lost their No. 2 and No. 3 receivers from last season. Stefon Diggs was shipped out to New England during the offseason and Tank Dell is expected to miss the entire 2025 season after his knee injury in week 16 last season.

The Texans have much less depth now, with a reliable but limited upside Christian Kirk as their No. 2 and a solid tight end in Dalton Schultz. They also have rookie Jayden Higgins as their No. 3 option in the passing game.Because of the losses of Diggs and Dell, Stroud will have to rely heavily on Collins to make plays every week on the outside, giving Collins the highest expectations he’s faced in his career.

Texans May Benefit From Weak Division

The Texans do have the advantage of playing in one of the weakest divisions in the NFL, which should allow the Stroud-Collins connection to have more than enough success to find their way into the playoffs for a third season in a row.

Stroud is far and away the best QB in his division, sharing the title with Trevor Lawrence of the Jaguars, Daniel Jones of the Colts and rookie Cam Ward of the Titans. All of these teams have done good work to improve their depth through the draft and trades, but all are still probably a year or two away from getting to playoff contention, while the Texans are in their playoff contending window with a good young quarterback, decent weapons and a good defense.

Nico Collins is in the top three receivers in the AFC South, along with Calvin Ridley and Tyler Lockett, though both are on the back nine of their careers so an argument could be made for Collins to take the No. 1 spot, assuming Travis Hunter doesn’t explode in his rookie season.

There are still plenty of questions and injury concerns with the Texans, but within a very lackluster division, this should still very much be a playoff team with C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins leading the way.