INDIANAPOLIS – Imagine if the Texans’ offense had two long matchup nightmares to torment defenses with.
C.J. Stroud delivering spirals to 6-foot-4 wide receivers Nico Collins and another big and talented downfield target.
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That scenario could unfold should the Texans go the route of drafting LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who’s similar in size and stature to Collins at 6-foot-4, 209 pounds.
Thomas led the nation with 17 touchdown catches last season, catching 68 passes for 1,117 yards on throws from Heisman trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
Although Thomas wasn’t the top option for Daniels as that distinctions went to the gifted Malik Nabers, Thomas ranked sixth in the nation with 17.8 yards per catch.
The Texans met formally with Thomas at the NFL scouting combine where he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds, second-fastest among the receivers and ran 22.91 miles per hour for the fastest go route among the receivers, per Next Gen Stats.
They ranked seventh in passing offense last season as Stroud was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
The Texans return talented wide receiver Tank Dell, who’s coming off a broken fibula. Wide receiver Noah Brown is a free agent the Texans have interest in potentially retaining, per a league source.
Thomas can operate in the slot or outside. He had 14 first downs in the slot and had four touchdowns inside the hashes.
He had 886 yards after the catch.
Thomas also met with the Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, among others.
Thomas acknowledged he feels underrated with all of the attention on Nabers.
“Malik is one of my best friends, we were great teammates together,” Thomas said. “Just us being competitors, we competed off each other.”
And the strengths of his game, including diagnosing coverages.
“I would say just being able to pick up on coverages, decipher what coverage the defense is in, and picking up on things fast, picking up on plays and stuff,” Thomas said.
His favorite route was the slot fade.
His role model as a player is Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.
At LSU, he competed daily against Texans standout corner Derek Stingley Jr.
His meeting with the Texans went smoothly.
“Great being able to be in the room with them,” Thomas said. " We talked about a lot of football, talking about a lot of things that we did at LSU and them getting to know me.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com