Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell is still months away from meaningful football. But based on the workout footage that hit social media this week, you would not know he spent an entire season on the sideline.
Dell, who tore ligaments and damaged his meniscus in 2024, was back on the field at the University of Houston putting in work alongside Packers wideout Matthew Golden. The video, posted by Jacob Barzilla, shows Dell running crisp routes with sudden cuts and explosive acceleration. For a guy coming off that kind of knee injury, the movement looked clean. Sharp. Encouraging.
“The sudden movement and twitch look really good,” one fan noted on X. Another wrote, “That is impressive after the type of injury Tank had.”
Dell missed the entire 2025 season after the injury cut short a promising start to his career. The Texans went 12-5 without him and made the playoffs, but they got bounced in the divisional round by New England. You could argue they missed his speed on a roster that sometimes stalled against top defenses.
What Dell Brings Back
A third-round pick in 2023, Dell caught 98 passes for 1,376 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first two seasons before the injury. That’s not elite volume, but the way he got open — quick, sudden, always dangerous underneath and over the middle — made him a favorite target for C.J. Stroud. The Texans offense looked different with him on the field.
Last month Dell talked about being grateful just to be back running routes. He admitted he still has a long way to go after sitting out nearly a year. But this video suggests he is ahead of schedule, at least from a movement standpoint.
Fan Reactions Tell the Story
The comments on the workout clip are pretty much what you’d expect from a fanbase that has been waiting for this. “Tank gonna ball out. Can’t wait to see him rise,” one user wrote. Another fan put it bluntly: “Rooting for the Dell comeback.”
And then there was this from someone watching the footage: “IDK how NFL players do it, man. All that quick stopping and turning with their knees scares TS out of me.” Fair point. The torque those joints take is not natural.
The Texans have not confirmed Dell will be full-go for Week 1. Nobody is projecting snap counts in July. But the visual evidence is there. He is moving like a guy who remembers how to play this game, and that alone is enough to get Houston’s hopes up.
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