Houston Texans: Keke Coutee compares extremely well to his coach

Houston Texans rookie wide receiver Keke Coutee had a phenomenal NFL debut. His performance reminds one of his position coach, Wes Welker. Let’s take a look.

The Houston Texans finally won their first game of the 2018 season. In doing so, they snapped the NFL’s longest losing streak of the time. It was a burden off the shoulders of the franchise, the players, and fans. There are a still a lot of things need to work on to continue to improve. It’s not like the Texans beat the Colts in a route, they won by a field goal in over time.

Defensively, the pass rush finally looked to be at full strength the past couple of games and it showed. JJ Watt has had a ridiculous amount of production, Duke Ejiofor has impressed in his limited playing time, and last week Jadeveon Clowney took his game to another level. However, the pass coverage was still very bad against a bad Colts receiving corps.

Offensively, the team looked lightyears better than they did when the season began. Deshaun Watson was more decisive and quick through his progressions. However, there was still too much pressure and too many dropped balls. But, there was one extremely bright spot to the offense.

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I discussed before the game the impact Keke Coutee would have on this offense, however, he surpassed my wildest dreams of what he’d accomplish in his NFL debut. Coutee added so many dimensions to this offense and instantly made it more dynamic just with his presence.

Coutee displayed his immense potential all day on Sunday. He is without a doubt the most talented slot receiver the Houston Texans have ever had and he appears to be ready to become the most productive slot receiver the Texans have ever had.

The way the Texans utilized him all over the field was reminiscent of another historically great slot receiver that just so happens to be on the team’s coaching staff. That man would be Houston Texans offensive assistant coach, Wes Welker.

The former Patriots wide receiver did it all on the field for his former team. He ran screens from anywhere on the field. He would motion into the backfield and run reverses and fake reverses and all of that. He also could run any route on the field, over the top, across the middle, out routes, etc.

Coutee was able to do a lot that for this Texans offense. Now, hear this, he isn’t Welker. At least not yet he isn’t. But he quickly became a player the Colts defense had to account for at all times, before the snap, during the cadence, and after the snap.

He motioned into the backfield several times and took handoffs twice. He also was a decoy several times out of the backfield. But the majority of the time, he lined up in the slot, 52/80 snaps.

That’s essentially what Welker did in his heyday for the Patriots. He lined up all over the place and made opposing defenses account for him at all times. He was an extremely reliable target and a constant favorite for Tom Brady.

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I was initially concerned about Coutee’s potential rapport with Watson but the two seemed like they had been playing together for years. Watson was consistently looking for Coutee. He ended up leading the team with 14 targets for the game. Coutee also needs to work on his focus as he did have two rough drops.

Coutee and DeAndre Hopkins make a perfect thunder and lightning duo at the receiver position. Hopkins is already an elite, top five wide receiver. If Coutee can stick close to the guy he compares favorably to, Welker, he should be able to climb those rankings fast and become one of the best guys out of the slot in the league.

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Coutee ended the day with eleven receptions for 109 yards. That’s a phenomenal start to build off of and if can continue to improve he’ll quickly become a name known around the league.

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