Last year, Houston Texans’ rookie wide receiver Tank Dell had an excellent season before a broken leg ended things prematurely. But the third-round pick (69th overall) in the 2023 NFL Draft from the University of Houston wasn’t supposed to be as good as he played. Typically, when third-round or later wide receivers hit, it takes time for them to develop. But as a rookie, Dell burst onto the scene, showing great chemistry with fellow rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, proving he belonged.
Houston’s expectations for this upcoming season are the highest they’ve been for a while because of all the success they saw the past season. In addition, the team beefed up its offense by adding Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon, creating questions around each player’s individual Dynasty value. With the 2024 season nearing, as the preseason is just weeks away, should you be buying, selling, or holding Dell? Let’s dive in.
* Within this article, the statistics were pulled from Sports Reference, KeepTradeCut (KTC), and Sleeper.
2023 Season Review
During his time in college, Dell was very productive, improving in each of his seasons and showing off his dynamic traits. Then, as a rookie, Dell came into the season buried on the Texans’ depth chart behind Nico Collins, Robert Woods, and Noah Brown. But in Week 2, Brown went down with an injury, bumping Dell up to the WR3 role, and the rest was history. Dell’s talent was on display in Week 2, posting seven catches for 72 yards and a touchdown, producing 16.70 fantasy points (Full-PPR), and finishing as the WR19 overall for the week. From there on, Dell took advantage of his opportunity and ran with the NFL’s next-man-up mentality. His best fantasy game came in Week 11 against the Cardinals, when he had eight catches for 149 yards and one touchdown, finishing with 28.90 fantasy points (Full-PPR), ending the week as WR3 overall. As Dell was on pace for a 1,000-yard season, he unfortunately broke his leg in Week 13 and finished his rookie year with 47 catches on 75 targets for 709 yards and seven touchdowns.
However, during that ten-game stretch, controversy started to set in amongst the Dynasty Fantasy Football community over who was the top receiver for the Texans, between Collins and Dell. Dell averaged 15.0 fantasy points per game (Full-PPR) as a rookie despite seeing just a 20.4% target share. But what he lacked in volume, he made up for in efficiency, as he greatly exceeded what you look for in most Dynasty rookie wide receivers’ first seasons.
Tank Dell’s Dynasty Value
Now, going into his second season, Dell’s value around the Dynasty community is steady but slightly down. His value was higher before the offseason began, as his value took a slight dip after the Diggs acquisition. After Dell’s excellent rookie year and being tied to a young superstar QB in Stroud for the foreseeable future, the sky appears to be the limit. The Texans’ additions are a concern for his target share, at least for the next year, but he still has excellent value, specifically in the long term.
Currently, Dell is listed as the Texans WR3 behind Collins and Diggs. However, the way Diggs’ contract was restructured, essentially using void years, it feels like a one-year deal, which still makes Dell attractive to Dynasty managers. The minor dip in Dell’s value after Diggs was added should only make it easier for Dynasty managers looking to buy him because of his future potential. According to KeepTradeCut (KTC), he’s currently valued at WR20 and is the 52nd overall player. He’s placed behind Travis Etienne, Drake Maye, and one spot behind Michael Pittman. Based on his career production in only one year and his upside, this is a fair evaluation of the current circumstances. However, Dell’s ranking presents an opportunity for Dynasty managers looking to acquire someone whose value can increase significantly over the next year.
Outlook & Advice
When looking at Dell’s rookie season, nothing about it seems to be a fluke. The only knock on Dell is that he was an older prospect coming into the league, but he’s still only 24. Being an older prospect is more of a concern for someone who takes longer to develop, but he clearly showed he has what it takes to compete. Dynasty managers care more about talent than situation, but his situation with the Texans is very good. They’re a team on the rise, and based on his rookie contract, he has at least three more years with Stroud. Dell is still young and playing alongside one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. He projects to be Houston’s WR1 or WR2 by 2025 or even this coming season with one injury. But most importantly, Dynasty managers should covet Dell because Stroud specifically asked the Texans to draft him, so I imagine they stay together for the majority, if not all, of Dell’s NFL career. Being tied to Stroud only makes Dell more attractive of a player to roster.
Stroud is already being looked at and mentioned as one of the five best quarterbacks in the NFL due to his stellar rookie season. Much like Dell, he’s nowhere near a finished product, and both will continue to grow until they hit their career primes. Top quarterbacks like Stroud on high-scoring offenses as the Texans have proven to be capable of supporting two fantasy WR1s. He might even be able to support three fantasy-relevant receivers in some of his peak years. Dell’s ceiling is temporarily capped by sharing the field with the Texans’ wide array of offensive weapons, but getting mid-to-high WR2 production should be within range.
With the future that the 24-year-old has in front of him, I believe now is the time to buy shares of Dell. If you savvily snagged Dell in the second or third round of your Dynasty rookie drafts last season, you’ll be able to enjoy this selection for many years. I recommend buying or keeping Dell until his value increases even more. His future role in this offense is too appealing not to buy into. I plan on buying shares of Dell if I don’t currently roster him since he’s young and has a possible future WR1 role in front of him. On KeepTradeCut, Dell is valued as a late 2024 first-rounder, similar to Michael Pittman and D.K. Metcalf. With this, I would be willing to trade a player in that range for Dell since he’s younger and has a very bright future in front of him. But my primary strategy would be to package a player slightly underneath Dell’s ranking, such as Jordan Addison or Jayden Reed, with a draft pick to acquire Dell. Contending managers should explore other avenues to acquire him besides giving up higher-rating players for this upcoming season. However, there is no reason to be actively looking to move Dell; instead, Dynasty managers should be looking to roster Dell everywhere they can.
Conclusion
Whether I’m a contending or rebuilding manager, I would be looking to acquire Dell because of his age and potential as an up-and-coming star wide receiver with a bright future alongside Stroud. Dell is one of the better buys at the WR position in Dynasty right now because you know what he is as a player, and he has barely tapped into his potential. Get him before his value soars dramatically higher, because if he produces as he did before his injury, the window to buy him will be shut quickly. Add Dell to Dynasty rosters now, as he can become one foundation of your championship-caliber roster.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you gained some valuable information. If you have any questions or you’d like additional insight and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @MonicasHubby. #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
