Tank Dell and Jaylin Noel Are Both Back — Here’s What It Means for Texans’ Wide Receiver Room

The Houston Texans spent all of last season trying to answer the same question: what happens to this offense if Tank Dell and the receiver room around him stay healthy? A week into training camp, they’re finally getting a real look.

Dell practiced in full pads on Wednesday for the first time since he suffered a gruesome knee injury in December 2024, according to Yahoo Sports. He worked through individual receiver drills, still hasn’t been cleared for 11-on-11 team periods, but the milestone matters. Dell dislocated his kneecap and tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus against the Chiefs in Week 16 of the 2024 season. He needed two surgeries to fix it.

Head coach DeMeco Ryans downplayed the moment without dismissing it.

“The plan for Tank hasn’t changed,” Ryans said after practice. “We’re taking care of him the proper way. Tank is handling his business the proper way. Everything is running really smoothly.”

Dell wasn’t placed on the physically unable to perform list to open camp, but Houston has kept him on a slow, staggered plan all offseason. Game action — even a preseason snap — remains the next real test, and the Texans haven’t said what his workload will look like once the exhibition schedule starts.

Jaylin Noel Is Back Too

Dell’s step forward came days after the Texans activated wide receiver Jaylin Noel from the non-football injury list. Noel picked up a hand issue — later described as a finger injury — before camp opened and missed the first week of practice as a result. The team announced his activation and confirmed he’s cleared to return to drills.

Noel was a third-round pick out of Iowa State in 2025 and played every game as a rookie, catching 26 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns while also handling return duties. With Christian Kirk gone — Kirk signed with the 49ers this offseason after one uneven season in Houston — Noel is positioned to take over a bigger share of the slot work that Kirk vacated.

What a Full Room Actually Looks Like

Put it together and Houston’s receiver corps is close to whole for the first time since before Dell’s injury. Nico Collins anchors the room. Jayden Higgins and Noel are entering Year 2. Dell, if he clears the final medical hurdles, adds a player who caught 98 passes for 1,376 yards and 10 touchdowns across his first two NFL seasons before the injury. That’s the version of this offense C.J. Stroud hasn’t had available to him in almost two years.

None of it means much until the pads come off in preseason games. But for an offense that’s been searching for a finished version of itself since Dell went down in Kansas City, this is the closest Houston has looked to complete.