Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
When the Houston Texans released Andre Johnson in March, a void was created at wide receiver. The signings of Cecil Shorts and Nate Washington in free agency added some depth, but third-round pick Jaelen Strong is also clearly in the mix to start opposite DeAndre Hopkins.
Strong had a very productive two seasons at Arizona State, with 157 receptions for 2,287 yards and 17 touchdowns. Concerns over a wrist injury that surfaced in April now look insignificant, and Strong should not have fallen as far as he did in the draft.
Texans’ head coach Bill O’Brien was critical of Strong’s conditioning in early May, while also acknowledging it as an issue for most players at that stage, and a hamstring issue kept him out of significant portion of OTAs. O’Brien repeatedly praised Washington throughout offseason work, so entering training camp he looks like the tentative favorite to be Houston’s No. 2 wide receiver. As for Shorts, his role looks likely to be multi-faceted with some focus on working out of the slot in three-wide sets.
It would be a big upset if Strong is not a Week 1 starter for the Texans, since he is clearly more talented than both Washington and Shorts. The only thing that would level the playing field is an injury over the course of training camp and the preseason, and quite frankly Strong is not off to a great start in that regard with all the practice time he missed during OTAs and minicamp.
O’Brien needs to surround his shaky quarterback situation with as much talent as possible, and having Washington or Shorts in place as a starter entering the season would not fit that idea. Strong will have to earn his spot and prove worthy of a prominent role, but the expectation here is for him to do just that during training camp and set himself up for a productive rookie season.
Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
