Article Update: Will Fuller Injured
Texans' WR Will Fuller broke his collarbone today during practice, sources tell @sarahbarshop and me. Out indefinitely.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 2, 2017
Will Fuller suffered a broken collarbone on Wednesday and is out indefinitely.
Broken collarbones can have a wide range of absence timetables. Fuller is almost certain to miss regular-season games. He’s likely looking at a recovery frame anywhere from 6-12 weeks. Fuller was having a quiet, yet promising, offseason working to correct his rookie-year troubles. A big-upside, late-round flier, Fuller can no longer be counted on for first-half contributions. The Texans will turn to Jaelen Strong and Braxton Miller behind DeAndre Hopkins. – Rotoworld
When someone says, “Houston Texans wide receiver” the name that will resonate with most is DeAndre Hopkins. Rightfully so, considering Hopkins has been the lead dog for the Texans receiving corps since 2014. However, there is another Texans receiver I am very excited about this coming season, and his name is Will Fuller.
Fuller is coming off a decent rookie campaign that resulted in a total of 47 catches for 635 yards and two scores. Additionally, he was the best returner on the Texans roster in 2016 amassing a total of 242 return yards and one score including the postseason.
| Week | Date | Opp | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 1 | 11-Sep | CHI | 5 | 107 | 21.4 | 1 |
| 2 | 18-Sep | KC | 4 | 104 | 26 | 0 |
| 3 | 22-Sep | @NE | 3 | 31 | 10.3 | 0 |
| 4 | 02-Oct | TEN | 7 | 81 | 11.6 | 1 |
| 5 | 09-Oct | @MIN | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | 24-Oct | @DEN | 4 | 22 | 5.5 | 0 |
| 8 | 30-Oct | DET | 1 | 23 | 23 | 0 |
| 11 | 21-Nov | @OAK | 1 | 17 | 17 | 0 |
| 12 | 27-Nov | LAC | 4 | 60 | 15 | 0 |
| 13 | 04-Dec | @GB | 5 | 59 | 11.8 | 0 |
| 14 | 11-Dec | @IND | 2 | 22 | 11 | 0 |
| 15 | 18-Dec | JAC | 4 | 42 | 10.5 | 0 |
| 16 | 24-Dec | CIN | 3 | 39 | 13 | 0 |
| 17 | 01-Jan | @TEN | 3 | 24 | 8 | 0 |
At first glance, these numbers depict a story of a young man who had some bright spots throughout the season, but also some struggles. Particularly in the drops department, where he let multiple touchdowns fall through his hands. The drops have been an ongoing concern for Fuller since leaving Notre Dame in 2016. Good news it’s not uncommon for younger players to struggle with the fundamentals, and I firmly believe he can correct the drops issue.
However, not all the struggles in Fuller’s game can be blamed completely on him. He did have the misfortune of receiving passes from quarterback Brock Osweiler for most of his rookie season. It’s not easy to perform in this league when the guy throwing you the ball has one of the worst statistical seasons in NFL history. Seriously, it was bad… so very bad.
Including playoffs, today was 4th time this season that #Texans QB Brock Osweiler failed to break 200 pass yards despite 40+ pass attempts
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) January 15, 2017
On a brighter note, Osweiler was eventually benched for Tom Savage later in the season. Not a huge upgrade, if I’m honest, but progress is progress. Savage instantly made it a point to get Fuller more involved by targeting him 21 times from week 15 to 17 when Savage eventually suffered a concussion and had to leave the game. The level of involvement is an encouraging sign for Fuller’s 2017 outlook considering Savage should be the incumbent starter. I believe things will pick up right where they left off with Savage looking Fuller’s way often. That is until the Texans deem rookie QB Deshaun Watson ready to start later in the season. Then things will really be looking up for Fuller’s fantasy outlook. Watson is a huge upgrade over both Osweiler and Savage in my opinion.
Along with upgraded QB play for 2017, an additional boost to Fuller’s fantasy outlook for 2017 is his offseason work. According to Texans Insider Deepi Sidhu, Head Coach Bill O’Brien praised Fuller regarding his increased knowledge of Houston’s Offensive system. These are exactly the types of reports I love to hear from an up-and-coming star.Not all his improvements have been mental this off-season. Fuller has reportedly spent more time in the weight room working to become more explosive on the field. All things considered, I believe Fuller is setting himself up nicely for strong 2017 season. I expect Fuller to improve exponentially on all aspects of his game and work his way into the top 36 wideout conversation. In my opinion, 70 catches 900 yards and 7 scores are well within reach of the talented Texans’ speedster.
I think we’d be treating Will Fuller differently if Brock Osweiler wasn’t his QB last year. pic.twitter.com/ZWq4NuT0DC
— Mike Braude (@BraudeM) July 28, 2017
Texans' Will Fuller shows improvement at camp https://t.co/KRee1llEL8
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) July 31, 2017
Check out these recent tweets that help prove my point.
Tanner is a Colorado Native and 3rd generation Denver Broncos season ticket holder. He grew up on a Cattle Ranch in North East Colorado. He began playing Fantasy Football in ’08 while attending College at the University of Northern Colorado, and has been a Dynasty player since 2012. Tanner resides in the Colorado Springs area where he is an avid fisherman/hiker and enjoys pretty much anything outdoors (like most Coloradans). He has been married to his wonderful wife, Nicole since June 2014. And they are expecting a beautiful baby girl January 2017. Tanner has recently taken up Home Brewing, and if he doesn’t blow anything up, aspires to own his own Brewery someday.
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