Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell was one of 10 innocent bystanders shot Saturday night at a Florida nightclub. This is the latest setback for the diminutive wideout who broke his leg in Week 13 of his excellent rookie season. However, Texans general manager Nick Caserio gave an encouraging update Thursday, telling fans and media that Dell is recovering well.
“Tank is doing great,” Caserio said in the interview with Sports Radio 610's Payne and Pendergast (h/t Sports Illustrated). “We have had conversations with him. We have visited with him. DeMeco [Ryans] had a chance to talk to him the other day. He is doing okay. Certainly, making progress. He has been in and out of the building. So, right now, he is in a pretty good state of mind. Tank is a great kid. He has done a lot for our program already. Hopefully, things can keep moving in the right direction.”
This is great news for the 2023 third-round pick. Dell’s abrupt end to last season put a damper on what was one of the best rookie seasons of the 2023 class, but coming back from a broken leg, it was expected he should be good to go with no lingering effects come training camp.
Tank Dell being shot, in what seems like an unlucky, wrong-place-wrong-time situation, was an unexpected setback that no one saw coming. The silver lining here is that training cams are still three months away, so hopefully Dell will be fully recovered and ready to go by late July.
Tank Dell could have another incredible season for the Texans
The Texans got a lot of great performances from rookies in their shocking 10-7 2023 campaign. Quarterback CJ Stroud and pass-rusher Will Anderson Jr. took home the Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year Awards, respectively.
That said, Stroud and Anderson were the Nos. 2 and 3 picks of the 2023 NFL Draft, so it’s not a huge surprise they were great players right away. Dell, out of Houston, on the other hand, was pick No. 69 in the third round, so his 47 catches for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games was a big shock.
Now, if fully healthy from the broken leg and gunshot wound, Dell will return to Stroud in his second season, where the QB could take a big leap. The Texans offense is also stronger than the one Dell left after several key offseason acquisitions.
Dell will join Nico Collins, Noah Brown, John Metchie III, Xavier Hutchinson, and Robert Woods as the (mostly) young, returning Texans WR core. They will be joined this season by blockbuster trade piece Stefon Diggs.
Additionally, the Texans signed running back Joe Mixon from the Cincinnati Bengals and guard Shaq Mason from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Plus, they drafted Ohio State tight end Cade Stover and Notre Dame right tackle Blake Fisher.
GM Nick Caserio took an already high-powered offense and supercharged it this offseason, making the Texans the favorites in the AFC South and a true Super Bowl contender. If the team does have big-time aspirations, though, Dell will have to get healthy and stay that way for the team to get where it wants to go in 2024.
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