RADIO
The Houston Texans have spent much of their short existence with issues at the slot receiver spot. From the recent disappointment of former Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller, who hasn't adapted to the position nearly as well as he looked like he would after playing his final year as a Buckeye as a receiver, to past underperformers like Kevin Walter and...you know, as someone who has watched the Texans since their very first game, I'm finding it really difficult to remember other wide receivers in the team's history who played the slot. The last time I remember Houston having three good receivers at once was the Andre Johnson/Corey Bradford/Jabar Gaffney combination.
Could that change this year with former Texas Tech wide receiver Keke Coutee? Coutee's current hamstring injury that will cost him at least one preseason game isn't a great start for the 5'11'' receiver, but there's room in the Texans' rotation for Coutee to make an impact.
Let's look at some reasons why Keke Coutee is a fantasy sleeper in deep leagues this season and a good pickup in dynasty rookie drafts.
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Can Keke Coutee Be Houston's Slot Receiver?
Again, that hamstring issue worries me. Hamstring issues can stick around and can severely hamper a player's ability to get up to speed with the rest of the team. As a Houston sports guy, I just watched a hamstring issue derail a potential NBA Finals appearance, so believe me when I say that Coutee's injury will linger over all the good things I write about him in this piece.
But enough about that -- let's move on to those good things. Coutee caught 93 passes for 1429 yards and 10 touchdowns last season for the Red Raiders. He has an 86th percentile 40-yard dash time. We can see his speed on display on plays like this:
Coutee gets the ball out in the flat and should have been stopped at the 35, but he's able to turn on the jets and gain another 15 yards before he gets taken down. That kind of speed can do wonders for Houston's offense, especially with another speedster in Will Fuller who can stretch the field. More speed is a good thing for this team, and having a player as fast as Coutee is working underneath while Fuller works down the field adds another dimension to the team.
Coutee will also have a chance to learn from a fellow Texas Tech alum in Houston Texans offensive assistant Wes Welker, whose name comes up first in everyone's mind when the phrase "slot receiver" is uttered. I'm likely overrating Welker's impact in a coaching role that isn't vital to the team -- he isn't the actual wide receivers coach -- but that connection seems like it could create some good energy. Yes, this is the least analytical thing I have ever said, so let me make up for it with this next point.
We know Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson was big on slinging the ball around the field last season for Houston. That bodes well for Coutee -- per PFF, he was eighth in the FBS in yards on deep passes last season despite ranking just 114th in deep targets. That level of efficiency is likely unsustainable, but it still signals that Coutee can make plays down the field, an important thing in Bill O'Brien's offensive scheme.
Are there reasons to not trust Coutee? Sure! Bruce Ellington put in some good work last year for the Texans, isn't that much slower, and provides the team with a more proven option. There's also the question of if a Bill O'Brien offense can even sustain three fantasy relevant receivers. Well...uhh, technically Bill O'Brien teams have barely even sustained two wide receivers, so you're really betting on the idea that a healthy Deshaun Watson can make Houston's offense work at peak efficiency. That's a risk for sure, as Watson is coming off a devastating knee injury, but at the tail end of a deep league draft or in the third round of your rookie draft? There's enough upside there to make me do it.
