Stefon Diggs speaks out after a knee injury ended his season.
The Houston Texans lost wide receiver Stefon Diggs for the entire season to a knee injury on Sunday. In his first year with his hometown team, the veteran won't be able to finish it out. The former Bills and Vikings star posted a thank you to everyone who supported him on Instagram.
Diggs tore his ACL on a non-contact play in Sunday's win over the Colts. The win was dampered by the injury, which is not the first significant loss to the Texans's receiving corps. Nico Collins will miss his fourth game on Thursday, the minimum he has to miss after being put on IR with a hamstring injury.
CJ Stroud and the Texans have been fine without Collins. They finished off the win over the Bills, beat up the Patriots, lost a heartbreaker to the Packers, and beat the Colts. With a win on Thursday, they could get their star back with seven wins before the trade deadline. There is no guarantee they will get Collins back for Week 10, which would put them in the trade market.
Diggs was brought in, alongside Joe Mixon, to take this young offense over the top. Mixon has been as advertised, totally overhauling a moribund running game. While Diggs provided veteran leadership, his stats were lacking a touch.
Could the Stefon Diggs injury force the Texans into a trade?
Despite their three-headed monster at wide receiver, the Texans might have to trade for a wide receiver. The AFC South is all but theirs, the Chiefs look human, the Ravens are beatable, and they already beat the Bills. While it is still early in Houston's championship window, they might need to press the ‘go ‘ button this season.
The problem for the Texans is that four wide receivers were already traded. Davante Adams, Amari Cooper, Dionte Johnson, and DeAndre Hopkins won't be heading to Houston on November 5. There are still options out there, like Adam Thielen and Kendrick Bourne.
None of those players are the quality of Collins or Diggs. While Collins is coming back, he will likely not be on the same pace he was when he got hurt. He was atop the league in receiving yards while hauling in three touchdowns. Without Diggs to distract defenders, he will see more double teams and be covered well in the red zone.
Expect Diggs to come back looking for revenge next season. He said multiple times how excited he was to play for the Texans and be out of Buffalo. While it was a disappointing end to Year 1, Year 2 could be great for Diggs.
