Houston Texans receiver Tank Dell is officially off the PUP list and cleared for training camp. That sentence alone is a small miracle when you look at what happened to his knee.
Dell tore his ACL, MCL, and LCL in a 2024 game. He dislocated the knee and had meniscus damage too. Multiple surgeries followed. The entire 2025 season was a write-off. But now, according to Ari Meirov, Dell is back without any practice restrictions heading into camp.
This is a big deal for a Texans offense that already has some pieces but needed another explosive option. C.J. Stroud and Dell had real chemistry before the injury. Stroud looked crushed when Dell went down, and that emotion told you everything about their connection. It wasn’t just QB-to-receiver. Those guys are close.
The Texans shouldn’t rush him. Nobody expects Dell to look like his pre-injury self on Day One of camp. That would be unrealistic after a year off and that many surgeries. But being cleared this early? That’s a win in itself.
Houston has serious hopes for the 2026 season. Stroud needs playmakers who can stretch the field, and Dell is one of the few guys on the roster who can do that consistently. You’ve got Nico Collins, Jayden Higgins, Xavier Hutchinson. None of them bring exactly what Dell brings — that sudden speed, the ability to create separation in a phone booth, the kind of quick-twitch stuff that makes defensive backs look silly.
Dell’s comeback is already one of the best stories of the Texans’ offseason. If he looks anything close to his old self, it could change how defenses game-plan against Houston. That’s not hyperbole. Before the injury, he was Stroud’s favorite deep target and a guy who could flip a game with one catch.
Training camp will tell us a lot. But just getting to this point, after everything that knee went through, is something worth paying attention to.
Leave a Comment