When the offseason opened up for the Houston Texans, it became evident that the wide receiver room would need some work. They have likely lost Tank Dell for the entire 2025 season, and they lost Stefon Diggs to the New England Patriots.
As for Dell, his injury against the Kansas City Chiefs in the postseason was so brutal that we also don't know if he would be able to be the same receiver he was before the injury. So, the question marks outside of Nico Collins were everywhere.
As the offseason ended, the Texans were standing with just Collins, Xavier Hutchinson, John Metchie, and Jared Wayne as the guys who had played meaningful snaps. That won't cut it in this league. So, they signed Justin Watson, traded for Christian Kirk, signed Braxton Berrios, and then drafted two guys early on.
For a guy like Justin Watson, who agreed to terms with the Texans on March 10, 2025, it probably looked much easier to make the roster than it does now. At that time, the Texans had just traded for Kirk, who plays a different position and is coming off an ACL injury, and they signed Berrios around the same time.
Now they have drafted two rookies fairly high, making it that much harder for a guy like Watson to make the roster. Regardless, he is going the extra mile.
"You see a guy like Watson [former Kansas City Chiefs WR Justin Watson], one of the first ones in the building, doing extra work, he's staying later doing extra, and you can just see the work ethic, see how he is picking up on the offense, see how he's communicating, and that's a guy that really stood out to me, not knowing him before we signed him this offseason. He stood out to me just based on his work ethic," head coach DeMeco Ryans said on Monday.
Watson likely gets his hard work and dedication from when he played with the Chiefs and won two Super Bowls with them. And no, he wasn't just a guy who rode the bench with a Super Bowl team; he played a very valuable role, catching passes from Patrick Mahomes in the postseason.
In ten total playoff games in his career, Watson is 9-1 with nine catches for 120 yards. Now, no, he was not a star player on a Super Bowl-winning team, but he was a very good role player. In the Chiefs' Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers two years ago, he caught three passes for 54 yards.
He knows how to work. And he's going to do whatever ot takes to make the roster. But, man, it won't be easy.
