Texans sign two veteran wide receivers

The vacancy in the wide receiver room has been addressed and addressed immediately. Reports are that the Texans have agreed to sign veteran wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Zay Jones. Both have had past success in their careers and served as starting receivers in recent seasons. The two wide receivers impressed in a workout and Nick Caserio immediately acted to make the move.

Texans Signing WRs Sterling Shepard & Zay Jones https://t.co/FW7VAlBNO5#Texans

For his part, Shepard most recently played for the Tampa Bay Bucs where he caught 39 balls and 371 yards and a touchdown. Shepard’s first five seasons in the league were very impressive as he topped 100 targets in two seasons and never caught fewer than 57 balls. However, The last five have seen him serve as a complimentary piece with the New York Giants and Bucs. He has a grand total of 443 receptions and 4800 yards.

At five foot ten, he is on the smaller side and could end up fitting in the slot position. Even with Jayden Higgins, it was unclear as to who was going to take that slot position. Jaylin Noel and Tank Dell have both been recovering from injuries and have been in and out of practice all camp. The rest of the receiving core were either larger border targets like Xavier Hutchinson and Justin Watson and umproven receivers like Lewis Bond. Shepard gives the Texans a veterans they can plausibly put in that slot position.

Jones fits the border category at six foot two. He caught just 12 balls a season ago for a Cardinals team that struggled all season. He also went down with a major knee injury in November. Like Shepard, he also has two seasons with more than 100 targets and two seasons with 50 or more catches. His best season was in 2022 when he had 82 catches and 823 yards with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

This will be an interesting situation to keep an eye on because the Texans brought in both wide receivers. It could be that they expect only one to stick and just want to give both some time to figure out which one will stick. It also could be that they are not satisfied with their receiver room even independent of the Higgins injury. It could mean that Noel and Dell can’t be counted on when week one rolls around. Obviously, this also complicates the depth chart and final cut down day with only one preseason game to see them in live action.