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DJ Bien-Aime, ESPN
HOUSTON — As Texans quarterback C.J Stroud heads into Year 2, he sees a “five-headed monster” in his offensive skill group.
The Texans were aggressive in the offseason, trading for 2021 Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon and All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Those moves came after re-signing tight end Dalton Schultz to join a group that had already featured receivers Nico Collins and Tank Dell.
The Texans began training camp practices Thursday, and Stroud is excited to watch those pieces mesh together.
“Stefon is somebody that can open up the playbook, but we have all these guys around,” Stroud said after Day 1. “It’s a five-headed monster. It’s definitely super dope to have just a bunch of options.”
Diggs hasn’t been a Texan for a long, but he immediately noticed the offensive talent in Houston.
“I feel like this offense is one of the offenses that got a lot of horses in the stable, you know what I’m saying,” Diggs said in June. “You let them all loose, and we’ll figure the rest out.”
Last season, Collins ranked eighth in receiving yards (1,297) and had eight touchdowns.
Dell finished with 709 yards and seven touchdowns in his rookie year and was on pace for 1,205 receiving yards before a season-ending injury in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos in Week 13 prevented him from reaching those marks.
Schultz was Stroud’s security blanket over the middle, finishing with 635 yards and five touchdowns.
The in-house talent helped Stroud become just the fifth rookie to pass for more than 4,000 yards, lead the NFL in touchdown-to-interception ratio (23-to-5), and win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
But the Texans made sure to add more weapons around around Stroud to elevate the former No. 2 pick even more in 2024.
Mixon sees an offense where “everyone can eat,” and the hope is that takes a unit that averaged 22.7 points per game (13th) to another level.
“With the weapons that we have, man it is a hell of a thing,” Mixon said. “I think as long as we execute, do all the right things well, and build that chemistry I think that it’s going to go a long way. In the offense, the sky’s the limit.”