Texans News: Tank Dell Needs More Time
Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell may still be a long way from making his return. NFL insider John McClain wrote that Houston should have a full-speed Dell “next season, too, hopefully sooner,” while making clear he’s “nowhere near ready to play” right now.
That’s a sobering update after Dell returned to team drills earlier this month and generated some optimism about a potential 2026 comeback. He was cleared to practice in early August, but by all accounts has remained limited since, a sign the recovery process is taking longer than some had hoped.
The severity of the original injury explains why. Dell suffered a devastating left knee injury on Dec. 21, 2024, against the Kansas City Chiefs, dislocating his knee while tearing his ACL, MCL, and LCL and damaging his meniscus on the same play. Head coach DeMeco Ryans called it a “significant knee injury” at the time, and Dell required multiple surgeries in the months that followed, missing the entire 2025 season as a result.
Before going down, Dell had established himself as a legitimate difference-maker in Houston’s passing game. He caught 51 passes for 667 yards and three touchdowns across 14 games in 2024, building on a strong rookie season in which he posted 47 catches for 709 yards and seven touchdowns. Across his first two seasons combined, Dell racked up 98 receptions for 1,376 yards and 10 touchdowns, numbers that made him one of the more electric young receivers in the league before the injury derailed his trajectory.
Houston’s receiver room has changed considerably in the meantime. The Texans open the season with Nico Collins, newly acquired Kayshon Boutte, Jaylin Noel, and Xavier Hutchinson atop the depth chart after Jayden Higgins went down with a season-ending ACL tear of his own. That means even if Dell does eventually work his way back onto the field this season, he’d be returning to a much different target competition than the one he left behind.
McClain’s wording leaves open the possibility that Dell plays at some point in 2026, but it clearly rules out any kind of imminent return. For fantasy managers, this is a clear signal to look elsewhere for immediate production. Dell remains a name worth monitoring for a potential second-half boost if he’s able to work his way back to full speed, but there’s no reasonable case for counting on him being available anytime soon.
