There are numerous aspects of this team to be excited about as we head into 2026, particularly as they relate to offensive expectations. First off, the Texans retooled an offensive line that ranked amongst the league’s worst units a season ago, having generated the third lowest adjusted line yards before contact while allowing an elevated 37.5 percent pressure rate. Both left guard Wyatt Teller and right tackle Braden Smith are established veterans with multiple years of elite production in their playing history. The Texans then managed to trade up with the Bills into the first round of this year’s draft to select interior offensive lineman Keylan Rutledge, a player many considered one of the top interior lineman in the class.
Speedy wide receiver Tank Dell is expected to be fully ready for the start of the 2026 season following one of the more gruesome knee injuries we’ve seen in recent history. He tore his ACL, MCL, LCL, and meniscus in Week 16 of 2024. It was one of those injuries that is difficult to watch on the tube, one of those where players from both teams take a knee and pray through abated tears. The good news is that Dell’s production has been nothing short of eye-opening when on the field during his first two seasons in the league. Dell gives the Texans a proven YAC threat that is also capable of stressing an opposing defense in the vertical, which, when paired with the skills of Nico Collins and the emerging Jayden Higgins, makes this wide receiver unit one of the more imposing trios in the league. All three players can beat you in the vertical, do magic with the ball in their hands, and get open off the line. Veteran tight ends Dalton Schultz and Foster Moreau add the intermediate-middle presence to truly stress defenses to all areas of the field.
Finally, Caley has proven to be one of the more adaptable offensive minds in the league, capable of tailoring the scheme and function of his offense to best suit the skillsets of his players. What I find most interesting in that is what it means for newcomer David Montgomery, who has long shown more burst and better results when running behind man/gap concepts. Caley had previously leaned more zone in the designs of his offenses, that is, until last season, when he made a switch to incorporate heavier rates of doubles, down-blocking, and pulls. Those were always present in his offenses since his time with the Patriots, but they really took on greater emphasis in 2025. I am higher than consensus on Montgomery this season.
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