Unfortunately, the first major injury of the Houston Texans 2026 NFL Season has occurred: NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan M. Alexander have both reported that Texans second-year WR Jayden Higgins tore his ACL during yesterday’s joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders:
Disaster. For an offense that is entering its second year under offensive coordinator Nick Caley and trying to match the defense in terms of firepower, losing Jayden Higgins is a critical blow to their depth chart. Higgins, soon to turn 24 on December 15th, was drafted in the second round (34th overall) by the Houston Texans last year in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Iowa State. Much like his current Texans’ teammate and former Iowa State Cyclone Xavier Hutchinson, Higgins possesses the speed, agile feet, and length that makes him a triple threat on the field and an ideal NFL wide receiver. He only had a handful targets at the beginning of the 2025 season, but by midseason, his ease at getting open had made him a favorite target of both Davis Mills and C.J. Stroud. In his rookie season last year, Higgins tallied (including playoffs):
- 19 Games (11 Starts)
- 50 Recs on 82 Tgts (61 Ctch%)
- 623 Yards (12.5 Y/R)
- 6 TDs
- 768 Offensive Snaps; 70.0 PFF Grade
After catching five passes for 42 yards and a touchdown during Houston’s comeback win against the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 9 last year, Jayden Higgins had fully earned the trust of his quarterbacks and his coaching staff. He would go on start five of the final eight games of that season, converting multiple crucial downs for both Mills and Stroud, and got touchdown passes against the Buffalo Bills, the L. A. Chargers, and the Indianapolis Colts in the regular season-finale. Nico Collins spoke the truth when he stated Higgins had, “…all the tools in the world” during training camp a few weeks ago, and Houston will be very hard pressed to find a replacement of his caliber.
With Higgins now out, Houston will rely more heavily on #1 receiver Nico Collins, returning receiver Tank Dell, and backups Xavier Hutchinson, Jaylin Noel, Justin Watson, Jared Wayne, and rookie sixth-round pick Lewis Bond. In fact, with Higgins now set to be placed on injured reserve, ending his 2026 NFL season, Houston will likely be searching for a tall, agile receiver to take his routes, meaning a competition between Hutchinson, Watson, and Wayne is likely to ensue in the following days.
While it is devastating news, we all will be patiently waiting for 2027 in anticipation to see Jayden Higgins get wide open in the end-zone for a Texans touchdown yet again. Even though it would have been nice to see him on the field while the team guns for its first Super Bowl, we hope that Jayden Higgins is able to recover quickly and be back to his regular NFL form by training camp next year. But, until then, it’s the next man up!
Who do you think will fill in Higgins’ role on the squad? I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a whole lot more Xavier Hutchinson this season, now, but with how good Jared Wayne looked in his limited action last week against the Chargers, I could be very wrong. Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below!
Go Texans!
