Texans rookie Jaylin Noel steps in at slot, returns with Christian Kirk, Braxton Berrios sidelined: ‘I’m prepared’

HOUSTON – Jaylin Noel has a style all his own defined by rapid-fire acceleration, tapping his cleats into his breaks and understanding spacing and timing as he creates separation in the slot.

He’s an accomplished return man as a former Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year.

Now, the Texans rookie wide receiver is poised for an increased role heading into his first NFL regular-season game. Veteran starting wide receiver Christian Kirk is out for one to two weeks with a hamstring injury, and punt returner Braxton Berrios is out for a relatively short-term span with a hamstring injury, per league sources.

That means Noel steps in as the primary slot Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium and on punt returns. From his work with receivers coach-passing game coordinator Ben McDaniels, Noel feels ready.

“Coach Ben has prepared me for this moment,” Noel said Thursday inside the Texans’ locker room. “He’s prepared every receiver in that room to be ready for, if anybody goes down or whatever, just for our moment. So, whatever they need me to do on Sunday, I’m prepared.”

In the preseason, Noel delivered plenty of moments as an impressive pass-catcher on short, intermediate and deeper routes. He’s adept at every phase of the route tree. Last season, working in tandem with Texans rookie wide receiver Jayden Higgins, one of his best friends, Noel caught a career-high 80 passes for 1,194 yards and eight touchdowns at Iowa State.

“Jaylin’s been steady ever since he got here,” Texans offensive coordinator Nick Caley said. “Very mature and obviously he’s talented. He had his opportunity to play in the National Football League and we’re really excited to have him. He’s been working, he’s been developing. Been very pleased with him and he cares, and he loves football. Can’t beat that.”

The compact 5-foot-10, 201-pound Kansas City native is working hard on his game and making steady improvements since being drafted in the third round.

In the return game, Noel has progressed and absorbed knowledge from Berrios and special-teams coordinator Frank Ross.

“Definitely happy with where Jaylin Noel is,” Ross said. “It will be a stable guy working on both phases. What you alluded to, securing it, he has done a great job of training and developing into this point and hopefully use his speed to our advantage when he gets the rock in his hands.”

Noel was one of the fastest and highest-jumping wide receivers at the combine with a 41 1/2 inch vertical leap. The Texans signed him to a four-year, $6.466 million contract that includes a $1.34 million signing bonus.

He has run the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds.

“I’m just continuing to work on my route detail,” Noel said. “There’s always something there that you can work on, making sure you have clean feet at the top of each break point. And then within the blocking game, making sure I’m on my leverages and I’m being physical in the right game.

“Just my versatility, whether that’s at return or in the offense. Being able to align anywhere on the field and make big plays. It’ll always be fun to be able to line up across from another team, go out and compete, and make plays.”

The first thing Noel wants to do is to establish himself on special teams in the return game. The offensive role, he feels like that’s going to develop in time.

“Just really honing in on my technique, being prepared,” Noel said of returns. “If they need me in that spot to go out there and do that job and just explosiveness, honestly, I feel like I’m an explosive player and that helps my game a lot. ..

“To be a big factor in special teams, to be a good returner for this team, I feel like I can do that really well. And then at the receiver position to be able to get on the field and make timely plays and important plays for the offense. And when it’s my moment to be called, I’ll be ready.”

Noel has been absorbing knowledge by studying the past.

Specifically, by studying tape of vintage New England Patriots retired slot wide receivers Julian Edelman, Wes Welker and Danny Amendola. The parallels of the Texans’ offense under offensive coordinator Nick Caley to his New England roots with Bill Belichick, Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady and the ultra-productive receivers who benefited from that scheme is all instructive to Noel, a third-round draft pick from Iowa State.

It’s an advanced study that Noel is enjoying and benefiting from as he acclimates to the NFL after excelling for the Cyclones with 245 career catches for 2,855 yards and 18 touchdowns and being named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year.

How the vintage Super Bowl champion Patriots used two slot receivers at times in their game plan specific offense tailored to strategy changing constantly against opposing defenses could come in handy for a Texans offense that has veteran Christian Kirk in the slot along with Noel.

“I watched him when he was paired up with Edelman a lot, they did a great job,” Noel told KPRC 2 of the Brady passing connection. “There’s a lot of similarities within this offense and making sure you have to make the right decision at the slot position and being on the right time with the quarterback. So, watching their film and seeing how they operate it has helped a lot, come out here and make sure I can play it back.”

Edelman, now a popular podcaster with Rob Gronkowski, was a converted quarterback who won three Super Bowls and caught 620 passes for 6,822 yards and 36 touchdowns.

Welker, now working for the Washington Commanders in personnel, was a two-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl selection who caught 903 career passes for 9,924 yards and 50 touchdowns.

Amendola, a Texas Tech graduate from The Woodlands, earned two Super Bowl rings and caught 617 career passes for 6,212 yards and 24 scores.

There have been a few comparisons for Noel because of the position he plays and the type of offense Caley is installing. Of course, those guys didn’t run the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds like Noel.

“We watch a lot of Edelman, Amendola, Wes Welker, see how they operate in the game and they’re great,” Noel said. “To even be compared to them sometimes, that is an honor. Like you said, our games are different, but there’s a lot things that I can take away from them and what they accomplished in the games. How they went out each Sunday and made plays, it was impressive and to watch it on film, it helps me a lot.”

From an intangible standpoint, Noel still resonates strongly in the Cyclones’ highly successful football program.

“He is the best leader and the most competitive kid I’ve been around since I’ve been coaching, and you’re going to get a kid that’s going to do everything in his power to help the team win,” Iowa State receivers coach and passing game coordinator Noah Pauley said in a telephone interview. “He’s an unbelievable person. He’s got to be a leader of that rookie class some way. He’ll find his role and he’ll be a sponge to the vets and everyone around that building will love having him around and what he brings to the organization.”

“Just an unbelievable human being, high-character kid. He didn’t always have the easiest upbringing, and a lot of people could go the other way, but he put his head down and knew that he was going to make the most of his opportunities and his athletic abilities to make sure that he took care of his mom, his family, his grandma and sister and brothers.”

Teaming up again with Higgins is special for Noel. So is their friendship, which includes a shared love for fishing. They went to Galveston this summer where Noel caught a couple of black drum fish, but not as many fish as Higgins, a Miami, Fla., native accustomed to the salt waters.

On the field, they’re both having strong training camps and growing together.

“It’s really a blessing to be able to still be teammates with him as we grew throughout college together and just now being able to learn and grow through the process of going to the NFL and figuring things out,” Noel said. “To be able go through that process with him especially.”

Now, Noel prepares for his first NFL game. He’s determined to show what he can provide.

“It’s truly a blessing, honestly to be be able to go out there and compete against the best,” Noel said. “Not everybody gets this opportunity, so I’m ready to make the most of it.”

And Noel will be joined on the field by two former Iowa State teammates in Higgins and Xavier Hutchinson. All will be involved in the Texans’ passing game Sunday.

“It would be surreal to be able to go out there with those two guys,” Noel said. “I spent time with them in college. Hopefully, at some point we might all be on the field. That would be super cool.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com