Tank Dell hasn't been great so far, averaging just 3.3 catches for 34 yards, with no touchdowns. But things are looking up for last year's third-round pick.
Nico Collins is being placed on IR with a hamstring injury, so he'll miss at least the next four games. That elevates Dell from a No. 3 wideout, with Collins and Stefon Diggs, to a top 2 option. He was pretty great with that status a year ago.
Houston had Collins, and also Robert Woods, but it didn't take Dell long to shoot past Woods as one of the main guys. And when he did, he put up strong numbers almost every week.
Table shows Dell's numbers last year in the eight games where he played more than half the snaps, with fantasy points (PPR) in the final column. He also ran it a little, so those touches might show up at some point.
| DELL WITH OVER HALF THE SNAPS, 2023 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Tgt | No | Rec | Att | Run | TD | PPR |
| Ind. | 10 | 7 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20.2 |
| at Jac. | 7 | 5 | 145 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25.5 |
| Pit. | 3 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 3.9 |
| at Car. | 4 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 6.1 |
| T.B. | 11 | 6 | 114 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 29.6 |
| at Cin. | 14 | 6 | 56 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 18.9 |
| Ari. | 10 | 8 | 149 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28.9 |
| Jac. | 8 | 5 | 50 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 17.2 |
It was a drag when Houston traded for Stefon Diggs, who's proved this year he can still play. If you have Diggs, you're starting him too.
But Dell should be a very nice player over the next month. He wasn't doing a lot as the No. 3 (and I'm not recommending Houston's current No. 3 with Collins sidelined, probably Xavier Hutchinson, with Robert Woods another possibility). But Dell should be very good as a top-2 option.
--Andy Richardson