Stefon Diggs traded to Houston Texans: Fantasy football impact

During his introductory press conference with the Bears, Keenan Allen let slip that the Houston Texans were one of the teams close to landing his services when the Chargers shopped him. That suggests the Texans were interested in adding a wide receiver, but not just that any Warm body to fill out the depth chart; They were looking for a high-level, proven veteran needle mover for the position.

They found a match with Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs and were able to seal the deal with a 2025 second-round pick.

The Texans trade a 2025 second-round pick for Stefon Diggs, a 2024 sixth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick.

Stefon Diggs and Bills have had a great journey together. His arrival coincided with a pivotal period that saw Josh Allen develop into one of the NFL's most powerful quarterbacks. The duo's dynamic synergy was undeniable. Allen helped show everyone that Diggs has been performing at a Division I level wide receiver for years. However, over the past few months, it became clear that this successful partnership was about to come to an end, for one reason or another.

Buffalo has a pair of quality wide receivers in Curtis Samuel and Khalil Shakir at the top of the depth chart and a first-round tight end pick from last year in Dalton Kincaid. They're not completely bereft of options surrounding Allen, but if that's not the case already, the wide receiver is at the top of the organization's needs as April's NFL Draft approaches.

In a deep class of X-receivers, they could jump in late in the first round and find the next WR1. On the other hand, while it may be nothing more than fan fiction, don't rule out an aggressive move up the draft board to secure Allen's next target.

The Bills offense will miss Diggs unless the team can land a ready-made difference-maker in the draft — which is not impossible this year. But no one should worry about Allen's output or performance. He's a proven player who can thrive in the room as it's currently built, as well as adding a rookie to the mix.

The Texas side of this trade is far More interesting and provides a more challenging presentation on paper. The addition of Diggs gives Houston what could be considered one of the best wide receiver rooms in the NFL. It also gives us a little pressure on target.

Who will have the best fantasy outlook among Houston's receiving trio?

Tank Dale and Nico Collins were a great duo last season. Near-identical average target share in full games combined Production is at the same level in two different roles.

Dell was an instant success as a rookie because he was able to beat man coverage and win on extremely difficult underpasses.

However, we have to remember that he is coming off a serious injury late in the season. You know this has to be on the Texans' mind as they were looking for high-level receiving help this offseason. When Dell is healthy, it provides the Texans with internal and external flexibility and will carry a significant amount of ADOT, even if the target totals are modest.

In my opinion, Collins is on a star track as an The reception showed that he thrived in solitude Long before C.J. Stroud arrived. Collins plays a crucial role in this offense as the X running breakout routes. He and Stroud enjoyed instant communication and this should continue to flourish.

Now, enter Diggs, who may be a slightly diminished player in deep games but is still a great blocker and quality receiver. He won't expect nearly the same 161-target season average he maintained in Buffalo as a member of Houston's receiving room, but he won't hit the same steep ADP in fantasy football either. Diggs will give Stroud a clear target for the throw and allow all of these receivers to move and operate in different roles. His addition is a clear net positive for the efficiency outlook for the entire Houston offense.

As for Diggs' individual outlook, one of the biggest variables in his outlook in the event of a trade was that wherever he went, he would almost certainly face a cut at quarterback. The Texans are one of the few teams where you can reasonably argue that the opt-out may not exist.

I'm not saying that now, at this moment, C.J. Stroud is a better quarterback than Josh Allen. However, all the evidence from his rookie season showed that he has the potential to join the elite class. The highly accurate Stroud threatened every piece of turf on the field in year one while demonstrating high-level handling before and after the snap. He ranked 12th in the EPA per dropback last season among quarterbacks while running a top NFL offense as a rookie. The sky is the limit for this player.

Texans are officially considered a fictional “correct answer.”

There are at least one or two offenses each season that provide multiple correct answers in fantasy football. A type of unit that makes goal tree discussions seem irrelevant and produces many “ADP winners”. For a team to attack like this, it must have a quality first or second division midfielder, a sharp attacking player, and a good overall ecosystem with an offensive line and multiple dangerous threats. All of our data suggests that Houston has every one of those variables. You don't even have to squint to see it.

It was easy to get excited about the Texans before the Stefon Diggs trade. Now, their chances of becoming a crime with a right answer seem impossibly high. I would be very interested in several of the Houston Texans passing game players at a cost when the ADP dust settles in the summer.