It's been more than a year since Tank Dell suffered his horrific injury. One of the breakout stars for the Houston Texans at the time, Dell suffered a catastrophic knee injury in December of 2024. That injury, which saw the wide receiver suffer multiple torn ligaments, forced him to miss the entire 2025 season.
Now, Dell is gearing up to return for the 2026 season. There is some uncertainty about the Texans wide receiver's readiness as Houston's OTAs draw near. While most fans (and even Dell himself) might be in a bit of a rush to see the wide receiver return, head coach DeMeco Ryans doesn't feel the same. Instead, Ryans wants his star wide receiver to focus on his rehab and making sure he's ready not only to return to the field, but to stay on it for a prolonged period.
“As I told Tank, it's not a matter of getting back to OTAs just to get back, it's just a matter of getting back in a really good spot physically to where you stay there,” Ryans said. “That's the main thing. It's not about how quickly he returns. It's just about Tank returning because we saw what Tank can do, the playmaking that he provides to our entire team. Just getting him back, whenever that time is, it's going to lift our team.”
Dell suffered a knee injury in 2024 after colliding with one of his teammates during the game. The injury was gruesome, as the Texans wide receiver's knee was visibly messed up. The test results showed that there was extensive damage to Dell's knee: he dislocated his kneecap, tore his ACL, MCL, and LCL, and suffered some damage to his meniscus.
The Texans could certainly use Dell's talents this season. Nico Collins continues to be an elite wide receiver and one of the few options that CJ Stroud can throw to. However, the ceiling of the offense is lower without Dell as the clear #2. The hope is that Dell's return gives a boost to Stroud after his middling 2025 campaign that ended in a pick-filled disaster.
