Summary\n <\/p>\n
Texans sleeper Marlin Klein could emerge as a fantasy blocker-to-playing-time path: Klein\u2019s blocking role could earn early-season snaps and pave the way for occasional fantasy weeks.<\/p>\n
Bust alert on David Montgomery as Texan back if workload shifts: Montgomery may lose carries to Jawhar Jordan and face limited explosive runs in Houston.<\/p>\n
Bold take: Texans win the AFC South at 8-9 despite offensive line concerns: Stroud\u2019s postseason struggles and line issues make 8-9 a riskier-but-bolder division title claim.<\/p>\n
In C.J. Stroud<\/a>\u2019s first ever postseason game, he passed for 3 touchdowns against 0 interceptions in a 45-14 beatdown of the Browns. His passer rating was 157.2.<\/p>\n In five games since, he has 3 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. His passer rating is 70.1, and the Texans have gone 2-3, and their two wins have come when Justin Herbert<\/a> fell apart at the seams in 2024 and when the Steelers offense might as well have not shown up last postseason.<\/p>\n Stroud\u2019s falloff in the regular season has gotten the headline, but it\u2019s really the postseason where his struggles have been the starkest. The Texans haven\u2019t scored more than 16 points in any of their three playoff losses.<\/p>\n Stroud\u2019s future \u2014 in Houston or elsewhere \u2014 will be one of the biggest topics of the NFL season. There\u2019s a path for the Texans to get back to the playoffs even if he is more the version of him from 2024-2025 than the looked-like-a-star rookie of 2023 (source: they made the playoffs in 2024-2025), but if he can\u2019t look like a star in the postseason, the Texans have less than zero shot at a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n Dalton Schultz<\/a> has had one very key attribute for his six-year run as a relevant fantasy tight end: Exclusivity. The most targets earned by a tight end on a Dalton Schultz<\/a> team in the last six years who wasn\u2019t Schultz was 22, by Jake Ferguson<\/a> in 2022 and Cade Stover<\/a> in 2024. There just hasn\u2019t been target competition for Schultz.<\/p>\n Klein also might not be that either. After all, he only had 38 receptions in four years of college, peaking with 248 yards and a touchdown last year at Michigan. But he enters the NFL as a known quantity as a blocker, and blocking is something Schultz isn\u2019t any great shakes at. That\u2019s definitely why the Texans drafted Klein in the second round ahead of guys like Max Klare<\/a> and Oscar Delp<\/a>. And if he can establish himself as a blocker, especially on a team that needs blocking help, that\u2019s a path to playing time, which is half the battle.<\/p>\n I\u2019m reminded of Will Dissly<\/a>, who had 25 receptions for 336 yards in his college career and then 105 yards in his very first NFL game. He\u2019s never been a star in the NFL, but he\u2019s had seasons of 349 and 481 yards, of 4 and 3 touchdowns, despite entering the NFL as a guy who wasn\u2019t going to catch passes. Klein is absolutely free in drafts. But if he proves to be a good blocker, he could find his way to fantasy-relevant weeks almost by accident.<\/p>\n Bust: David Montgomery<\/a>, RB Last year was the first time in Montgomery\u2019s seven-year career that he failed to reach 1,000 scrimmage yards, in fact his first time since his rookie year not to reach 1,100. He also saw a career-low 158 carries, down from 185 in 2024 after never having under 200 before that. Sure, Jahmyr Gibbs<\/a> took his game to a new level last year and Montgomery had to suffer as a result, but he\u2019s also 28 now and has developed into more of just a plodder \u2014 he had 15 explosive runs last year (per FTN Stats & Charting<\/a>), his fewest in three years with the Lions, and moving from the Detroit offensive line to whatever Houston has put together certainly won\u2019t help that.<\/p>\n If Montgomery can\u2019t be counted on to break the occasional explosive run, and if Woody Marks<\/a> is the receiving back in Houston, and if the Houston line can\u2019t give him much help before the run, what is the appeal of Montgomery as a Texan? I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if he\u2019s losing work to Jawhar Jordan<\/a> by the end of the year.<\/p>\n Bold Prediction: The Texans Win the AFC South \u2026 at 8-9<\/p>\n The Titans are improving, but there\u2019s still plenty of work to do to get them to contender status. The Colts have potential, but with Daniel Jones<\/a> a mystery both in health and ability, it\u2019s hard to roll with them. I\u2019ve already written why I think the Jaguars will be a third-place team this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n That leaves the Texans to win the AFC South. That feels safe. The problem is \u2026 are the Texans that good? To be sure, this team has a very good defense, but we know that defense is less predictable year-over-year than offense. Meanwhile, this offense has pieces (especially Nico Collins<\/a>), but the potential for another year of a disaster offensive line (our Dan Fornek ranks it as the No. 30 offensive line<\/a>) could undercut the whole process.<\/p>\n Collins is elite. The receivers behind him are good-not-great. The backfield is, as mentioned above, a question mark. So is tight end. Stroud isn\u2019t looking anything like the star he appeared to be in 2023.<\/p>\n The Texans should win the AFC South. If pressed, I\u2019d probably predict them to finish 9-8. But \u201c8-9\u201d is such a bolder prediction, so I\u2019m rolling with it. Another losing record takes a division in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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<\/a>
\n2026 Sleepers, Busts & Bold Predictions: Houston Texans
\nSleeper: Marlin Klein<\/a>, TE<\/p>\n
\n![\"GREEN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/David-Montgomery.jpg\")
<\/p>\n