The Houston Texans overhauled their receiving room last season amid an uncertain depth chart. Nico Collins has established himself as one of the top targets in the NFL but the Texans had big questions behind him following Tank Dell’s leg injury.
With the receiver room in flux, the Texans took Iowa State receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel during April’s NFL Draft. The hope is that either player can take to the field quickly and give C.J. Stroud an additional weapon to take Houston’s offense to another level.
The Texans received good news on this front when they took the field for minicamp on Tuesday and a rookie target became a highlight machine that could make him a major player in Houston’s offense moving forward.
Jayden Higgins Shines During First Day of Texans Minicamp
Higgins highlighted early and often during the first day of minicamp as he made several highlight plays, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan M. Alexander. Higgins’s day as he caught a pass from Davis Mills for a deep gain and a one-handed grab from Stroud in the back of the end zone later in practice.
C.J. Stroud to Jayden Higgins . We might be seeing a lot of this, this season. pic.twitter.com/DLIEZOe3ER
— Jonathan M Alexander (@jonmalexander) June 10, 2025
The best catch may have come later, however, as he hauled in a go ball from Stroud with one hand, causing Alexander to say that Higgins “might end up being the truth.”
C.J. Stroud threw a go ball to Jayden Higgins, who was covered tightly by Kamari Lassiter, but Higgins hauled it in with one hand . Perfect pass.
— Jonathan M Alexander (@jonmalexander) June 10, 2025
Yeah, Higgins might end up being the truth.
Higgins was the 34th overall pick and the fifth receiver taken in April’s draft coming off a productive collegiate career with the Cyclones. The 22-year-old broke out by catching 53 passes for 983 yards and six touchdowns during his junior season in 2023 and followed it up with an even bigger senior campaign with 87 catches for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had Higgins ranked as the sixth-best receiver in this year’s draft. But the interesting part of his scouting report was that he compared his tape to what Nico Collins did at Michigan. At 6-foot-4 and 214 pounds, Brugler dubbed Higgins a height-weight-speed athlete who could be a dangerous playmaker once he gets acclimated to the NFL.
It doesn’t appear that any jitters have hit the rookie as he enters Texans minicamp. If Higgins keeps making plays like this, the Texans will have found another target in an offense that was short on them a year ago.