Texans receiver Jaylin Noel poised for increased role in second season: ‘Looking forward to being a game-changer’

HOUSTON – Jaylin Noel tapped his cleats, firing into his route and catching the football in stride before accelerated away from pursuit into the end zone.

It was a practice moment that underscored the speed and cutting skills of the Texans’ second-year wide receiver. He displayed his breakaway ability as a rookie on a post route against the Los Angeles Chargers, running through their zone coverage for a touchdown.

Now, Noel is poised for an increased role as a slot receiver who doubles as a dangerous return specialist. Noel has been honing his timing and communication with quarterback C.J. Stroud as he strives to build on his rookie season.

“Looking forward to it a lot, being able to be a game-changer, being able to make big plays,” Noel said after an organized team activity this week. “I think that’s what I bring to the Texans, so just go out there, roll, be myself. A lot of growth for me, whether that’s just on the field, off the field, all those different things.

“Just building confidence with everything I do, perfecting my route running and just being ready to go for next season. I’m very excited. Any opportunity I can get in this league, it’s an opportunity to show what I can do, and I’m excited to roll this year.”

Noel didn’t have a large role carved out as a rookie after being drafted in the third round out of Iowa State. His first NFL season netted 26 catches for 292 yards and two touchdowns in 17 games, three starts and 35 targets. It was a good catch to target ratio that included 13 first downs.

And Noel averaged 10.8 yards per punt return with a long return of 53 yards and 27.6 yards per kickoff return. The former Big 12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Year finished the season with 1,438 all-purpose yards. While backup running back Woody Marks is competing for the kickoff returner role with him, Noel figures to still have a heavy special-teams role again.

“I love it,” Noel said. “Anytime I can get the ball in my hands, it’s another opportunity to change the game. So, them giving me the opportunity, I’m blessed, and I’m excited to move forward with that.”

At Iowa State, Noel, one of the fastest players on the roster with 4.39 speed in the 40-yard dash, showed what he can do as far as run after the catch capabilities. He caught a career-high 80 passes for 1,194 yards and eight touchdowns in his final college season.

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.

“It’s just my determination with the ball in my hands, wanting to make big plays,” Noel said. “And then just to improve on it, just being able to know when the ball’s coming to me, which way I’m stepping, getting up the field quick, split two defenders. All those little things that allow me to continue to improve my run after the catch.”

Noel’s mobility and compact frame at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds makes him well-suited to operate out of the slot and make plays underneath and behind coverage by creating separation.

“I feel like for me, not only with speed in general, I also feel like I’m twitchy, so to be able to get in and out of cuts quick, also my IQ of the game, being able to understand the defense, sitting in zones, winning against man,” Noel said. “My speed and versatility, I feel like I can run every route on the field. So, to be able to do that in the slot, it’s going to be good.”

The chemistry is growing between Noel and Stroud is building.

They’ve been spending a lot of time and hard work on making their connection sharper.

“It’s a lot of improvements just from the experience of working with each other, knowing what we see on the field, what we want at certain times,” Noel said. “Obviously, C.J. being a commander in the huddle, talking to me when he sees certain things.”

Noel did a convincing rendition of retired Baltimore Ravens Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis’ famous ‘Squirrel’ dance in the end zone after his first career touchdown catch.

When Noel scored during a 44-10 rout, he quickly celebrated with the dance Lewis popularized during his hard-hitting tenure with the Ravens as a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl Most Valuable Player.

“It felt great, just an honor and a blessing to be able to get my first one in the NFL,” Noel said. “Not many people get that opportunity, so it was a blessing for sure.”

This has been a life-changing offseason for Noel. He got married to Aliyah this spring.

“I was nervous, the biggest day of my life, getting to marry the love of my dreams,” Noel said. “It was just a very special moment to have everybody I love around me to take that moment in. It was special.”

At Iowa State, Noel was prolific with 245 career catches for 2,855 yards and 18 touchdowns.

“He is the best leader and the most competitive kid I’ve been around since I’ve been coaching,” said Penn State receivers coach Noah Pauley, Noel’s position coach at Iowa State. “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.”

The Texans’ offense is looking to take a major step forward this season.

They finished 13th in scoring offense, averaging 23.7 points per game, 19th in total offense with an average of 326.7 yards a game. The passing game needed a better complementary presence, but the season-long absence of injured running back Joe Mixon hamstrung the entire operation. Now, the Texans have made significant investments in the offensive line and traded for veteran running back David Montgomer.

“We just know what the emphasis is this year,” Noel said. “We know we can take a step forward as an offense. We know that last year was the first year in the scheme, but there was a lot of things that we can improve.

“Our coaching staff is doing a great job emphasizing what we need to get better at, and we understand what we need to get better at. Our leaders within the offense are making sure everybody’s being held accountable and ready to go.”

The goal is clear: a Super Bowl.

The Texans have lost three consecutive playoff games in the AFC divisional round and are 0-7 all-time as a franchise at that stage of the postseason. The Texans want to make history. And Noel wants to be big contributor in clutch situations. He was only targeted twice in the playoffs last year and had zero catches.

“Obviously going to the Super Bowl, that’s the first goal,” Noel said. “And then for me to make big impact plays at all times, I feel like last year when we got in the playoffs, I didn’t make that big of an impact.”

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