Houston Texans Fantasy Football Team Preview For 2026

The 2025 Texans started the season 0-3 and looked poised to take a major step back following back-to-back 10 win seasons. Instead, they won 12 of their final 14 games and whooped the Steelers in the Wild Card Round before falling short against Drake Maye and company in Foxborough.

Obviously every team wants to be the one holding up the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season, but hey, at least Texans fans can take solace knowing they deployed arguably the single-best defense in the league last year.

2026 Fantasy Football Team Preview For The Houston Texans

DeMeco Ryans enters Year 4 as Houston's head ball coach with another finely tuned defense that looks capable of having its way with pretty much anyone, while the offense could be ready to take a step forward based on some of their offseason additions:

Another year, another hopeful offensive line overhaul: Georgia Tech C Keylan Rutledge (1.26) and Oklahoma G Febechi Nwaiwu (4.106) join ex-Colts OT Braden Smith and ex-Cardinals G Evan Brown as major additions to a group that has been pretty damn rough for the better part of the last half-decade-plus.
The run game received a boost in the form of ex-Bears/Lions RB David Montgomery. The 29-year-old veteran more so served as the "Robin" to Jahmyr Gibbs' "Batman" during his last few years in Detroit, but D-Mont still managed to rack up 4,849 total yards and 30 scores (9th among RBs) during four years with the Lions.
The only two notable changes to the WR/TE rooms: Pint-sized speedster Tank Dell is expected to make his return to action this year after missing all of 2025 following his devastating 2024 knee injury, while the team also used the 59th overall pick on block-first Michigan TE Marlin Klein.

What follows is a fantasy-focused team preview of the Houston Texans ahead of the 2026 season. Make sure to check out Fantasy Life's rankings hub for updated player ranks all year long.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Can C.J. Stroud get back to partying like it's 2023?

QB1: C.J. Stroud (QB22)
QB2: Davis Mills
QB3: Graham Mertz

Look: There's no doubt Stroud had himself a ROUGH playoff stretch. Committing 5 fumbles (2 lost) and 1 interception against the Steelers were followed by 4 more picks in the team's season-ending loss to the Patriots. That's as many combined interceptions and fumbles as he had in 14 regular-season games!

The 24-year-old signal-caller needs to play better in January for the Texans to have a chance at advancing to their first conference championship … ever … but let's take a step back and appreciate the fact that Stroud did indeed do some nice things last season. While his numbers weren't quite up to the 2023 heights we saw as a rookie, this passing game was at least more efficient than what we saw in 2024.

Could Stroud be a QB2 to target?

Is David Montgomery set for a big season, or a dead-zone RB trap?

RB1: David Montgomery (RB20 in Fantasy Life ranks)
RB2: Woody Marks (RB47)
RB3: Jawhar Jordan

Usually, veteran running backs leave teams after they had a nice run, but faded out in favor of a new-and-improved younger option. There's a Leonardo DiCaprio girlfriend joke in there somewhere.

Here's the thing: Montgomery hasn't really had a bad season … ever. The man averaged 1,212 total yards and 7.5 touchdowns in four seasons in mostly bad Bears offenses before going for 3,156 total yards and 33 scores during his last three years in Detroit.

Yes, Monty's counting numbers dropped off in 2025, as the Lions shifted the backfield focus to some dude named Jahmyr Gibbs. Also yes, a lot of provocative metrics still painted him as a pretty average-to-above-average running back.

Will Monty get a featured workload?

Does Nico Collins have overall WR1 upside?

WR1: Nico Collins (WR8 in Fantasy Life ranks)
WR2: Jayden Higgins (WR56)
WR3: Tank Dell (WR76)
WR4: Jaylin Noel (WR101)
WR5: Justin Watson
WR6: Xavier Hutchinson

The case for that answer being yes:

Still just 27 years young, Collins is in the middle of his prime and ranks second only to Puka Nacua in yards per route run over the past three seasons.
This isn't exactly the most crowded passing game in the world. Fantasy Life Projections accordingly have Collins earning 128 targets (12th most among wide receivers) and that feels low to me considering he had 120 in just 15 games last season.
The Texans have MILLIONS of reasons to feature Collins more than ever considering he's one of just 11 wide receivers making at least $30 million annually.
C.J. Stroud might not be confused with Joe Burrow by the end of the season, but as we stated earlier: He was already a top-20 or better QB in EPA per dropback, success rate, and completion percentage over expected in 2025. Even a modest improvement could have Nico dealing with most people's idea of an above-average signal-caller.

If betting on 6-foot-4, 215-pound gazelles looking at a monstrous workload in a potentially ascending passing game is wrong, I don't want to be right. Collins is my WR7 (highest of the Fantasy Life rankers) and someone I'm willing to take ahead of guys like Drake London and A.J. Brown.

Looking at a top-5 fantasy season with a healthy target share

Is Dalton Schultz a quality late-round TE dart?

TE1: Dalton Schultz (TE23 in Fantasy Life ranks)
TE2: Foster Moreau
TE3: Cade Stover
TE4: Brevin Jordan
TE5: Marlin Klein

The soon-to-be 30-year-old veteran has put up, good, not great, fantasy numbers in three years with the Texans.

Dalton Schultz PPR points per game:

2023: 10 (TE11)
2024: 7 (TE28)
2025: 10.5 (TE15)

There's an argument that Schultz's TE23 (pick 170) ADP makes him a great late-round candidate as someone priced closer to their floor than ceiling. Then again, the team's decision to sign Foster Moreau and use a second-round pick on Marlin Klein adds at least some possibility that Schultz has less of a full-time role in 2026. We could also see youngster Cade Stover and a hopefully healthier Brevin Jordan contend for more snaps as well.

Predictions For The 2026 Houston Texans

Win total prediction: The Texans have won 10, 10 and 12 games with DeMeco Ryans, Will Anderson and CJ Stroud leading the charge. And yet, Vegas rests their win total at just 9.5 ahead of 2026. I'm a bit confused by their tactics! There's reason for belief in this offense growing as the young core gets a year older, and the defense continues to look a lot like the league's single-best group on paper. I'm taking OVER 9.5 wins for a team that is an above-average offense away from looking like a pretty solid darkhorse Super Bowl contender.

Bold fantasy call: Nico Collins cements himself as a top-5 real-life and fantasy wide receiver, turning in 1,500+ yards and 12 touchdowns as the engine of this improved offense.

Last season predictions: OVER 9.5 wins (hell yeah, brother), and Nico Collins finishes as THE WR1 (WR10. We'll watch the film and get better).