Unwilling to sit back and be complacent after C.J. Stroud's production slowed in his sophomore season, the Houston Texans wasted no time shaking up their wide receiver room this offseason. Additions of Christian Kirk and Jayden Higgins (among others) add new firepower, but the team also wasn't shy about letting receivers walk, with Stefon Diggs and Robert Woods finding new homes.;
Diggs is already bringing a ton of drama to the New England Patriots, but he hasn't disappointed Pats fans on the field yet. It's a different story for Woods, who is already earning the ire of Pittsburgh Steelers fans early in OTAs.
Steelers Fans Already Disappointed With First Robert Woods OTA Video
The Pittsburgh Steelers posted a social media video of one of Woods' reps from OTAs. The idea of the video was, presumably, to hype fans up about their new free agency addition. The effect was the complete opposite. Just watch the video and you'll probably be able to guess what the reactions were:
It's no secret that Woods is old and past his prime, but this is a tough one to watch. He looks slower than he did last year (which was already pretty slow), and the route itself looks like an ugly one too. Plus, the fact that the Steelers just lost a star wide receiver in George Pickens and their hype videos are highlighting 33-year-old Robert Woods is a really rough sign for the direction of the offense as a whole.
Of course, we don't know what this drill is. With the location on the field and the way he's releasing against an imaginary defender, it's probably some sort of goal-line work. Maybe he's supposed to be slowing down so much on his cut to work on misdirection or pretending to be absorbing contact. And maybe they're not going full speed. But that's a lot of "maybe" to defend a player who has averaged just 5.9 yards per target on almost 200 targets over the last three seasons.
Texans fans saw first hand that Woods simply isn't the receiver he once was, and now they get to watch another fanbase come to that realization in record time.
If you haven't been watching closely, here's a look at all of the Texans' wide receiver changes this offseason (including Woods' departure).
Texans WR Depth Chart Challenging to Project After Offseason Moves
Departures:
- Stefon Diggs (to New England Patriots in free agency)
- Robert Woods (to Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency)
Additions:
- Christian Kirk (free agency)
- Justin Watson (free agency)
- Braxton Berrios (free agency)
- Jayden Higgins (NFL Draft)
- Jaylin Noel (NFL Draft)
- Daniel Jackson (undrafted free agent)
Returning:
- Nico Collins
- Tank Dell (likely to miss entire 2025 season with knee injury)
- John Metchie III
- Xavier Hutchinson
- Xavier Johnson
- Jared Wayne
- Johnny Johnson III
The Texans obviously won't carry 12 receivers on the roster (not factoring in Dell, who will be on injured reserve), though a couple of the lesser names on the list will likely end up on the practice squad. Still, expect a handful of cuts (or even, in Metchie's case, trades) before the season arrives.
Early indications from OTAs are that Collins, Kirk and the rookie Higgins will be the top three receivers on the depth chart. That leaves Metchie, Noel, Berrios, Watson and Hutchinson competing as the frontrunners for the reserve roles.