{"id":763879,"date":"2026-02-20T05:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/763879\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T05:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:34:07","slug":"texans-wr-nico-collins-named-to-pffs-top-101-players-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/763879\/","title":{"rendered":"Texans WR Nico Collins named to PFF’s Top 101 players of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 19, 2026, 4:44 p.m. CT<\/p>\n

Pro Football Focus<\/a> hasn’t always been kind to the Houston Texans<\/a>, but they seem to be turning over a new chapter with the emergence of several young and promising foundational pieces.<\/p>\n

PFF recently finished its top 101 players list<\/a> for the 2025 season, naming the best players based on their metrics and on-field play. While players like cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.<\/a> and defensive end Will Anderson Jr.<\/a> have yet to be named, that doesn’t mean they won’t land in the top 25 when the list is released next week.<\/p>\n

As for current names, veteran and two-time Pro Bowl wideout Nico Collins made the list just ahead of former Texans<\/a> offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and current cornerback Kamari Lassiter at No. 50. Even with injuries hindering his time on the field, it’s about the quality of reps he takes rather than the quantity of games.<\/p>\n

“Collins could have easily been higher on this list had he not missed some time through injuries,” PFF wrote. “His 1.3% drop rate was the fourth-best mark among wide receivers who saw at least 50 targets this past season, and his 19 contested catches were tied for the fourth most.”<\/p>\n

When on the field, Collins is a game-changer. Not only does he rarely drop passes, but he also elevates all passing attacks with the ability to turn short routes into explosive gains. If that’s not enough, Collins has finished each of the last two seasons as a top 10 pass-catcher in explosive routes of over 20-plus yards downfield.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

Since the arrival of C.J. Stroud, Collins has blossomed into one of the game’s top receivers. This past season, after hauling in 71 balls for 1,117 yards, the fifth-year wideout became the third player in franchise history to record three straight 1,000-yard seasons.<\/p>\n

Collins’ 15.7 yards per catch ranked sixth among all wideouts last season. Signed on for two more seasons, the best could still be on the horizon for a vertical speed threat that offers more than just a couple of highlights per game on Sundays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 19, 2026, 4:44 p.m. CT Pro Football Focus hasn’t always been kind to the Houston Texans, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":763880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[95878,7,221,253,2368,6,96520,96521,95882,97087,96676,96723,95953,101059,96001,95896,95888,95895,96678,95906,96177,95883,97222,222,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-763879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-houston-texans","12":"tag-houstontexans","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-sstssportsnfltexans","15":"tag-sstsntexans","16":"tag-tagamerican-football","17":"tag-tagbreaking-news-social","18":"tag-tagc-j-stroud","19":"tag-tagderek-stingley-jr","20":"tag-taghouston-texans","21":"tag-tagkamari-lassiter","22":"tag-taglaremy-tunsil","23":"tag-tagnational-sports","24":"tag-tagnfl","25":"tag-tagnfl-hub","26":"tag-tagnico-collins","27":"tag-tagoverall-positive","28":"tag-tagsmg-breaking-wire","29":"tag-tagsports-news","30":"tag-tagwill-anderson-jr","31":"tag-texans","32":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116101332152436592","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}