The Houston Texans lost Jayden Higgins to one of the most significant preseason injuries in the NFL a few weeks ago. Higgins tore his ACL and will miss the entire year. The second-year receiver was on track to be the team’s second WR behind only Nico Collins, and his injury left a huge hole in the offense. Houston tried to solve the problem by trading for Kayshon Boutte from the New England Patriots, and Boutte could be in a big role right away. Is he worth starting in Week 1 for your fantasy lineup in his new home? Let’s take a look and see what to expect this week.
Boutte flashed potential last year in New England, and work should be available for him in Houston as well, especially now that Tank Dell has been placed on IR and will miss at least the first four weeks of the season.
Texans WR Depth Chart Update
With Higgins done for the season, Xavier Hutchinson, Jaylin Noel, and Jared Wayne will compete with Boutte for looks behind Collins. Hutchinson is coming off a career year but only had 35 catches for 428 yards and three touchdowns. Noel had 26 catches for 292 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, and Wayne spent most of last year on the practice squad, playing just one game all year. Wayne had a solid training camp and preseason and earned a spot on the roster, but he isn’t likely to be involved right away.
Boutte definitely has a better track record than the other second options behind Collins. The sixth-round pick from LSU had 43 catches for 589 yards in 2024 and 33 catches for 551 yards last year. He doubled his touchdown total to six scores in 2025, after finding the end zone three times in 2024.
Boutte was a low-volume but high-upside target in New England, where he was one of the team’s primary deep threats while working across from Stefon Diggs. In many ways, he could be in a similar spot in Houston, working across from Collins as a home-run threat for QB C.J. Stroud.
Can Boutte make an instant impact?
With Dell out for the first four weeks and Noel dealing with both hamstring and finger injuries this preseason, Boutte should get plenty of snaps and targets right out of the gate. He was a big-time playmaker and actually led the league in fantasy points per target in some scoring systems, since his catches were usually for big gains.
He was acquired on August 24, so he has had a couple of weeks to get up to speed on the playbook and establish a rapport with Stroud.
He’ll be a high-risk play in Week 1 when the Texans take on the Bills. Boutte should know the opponent well from his time with the Pats, but Buffalo won’t be caught off guard by his ability. Last season, he caught three passes for 43 yards against the Bills in Buffalo and hauled in his only target for 30 yards in the rematch in New England.
The Bills did get into some high-scoring games last year, but the Texans’ game plan is typically more conservative with a focus on their defense and running game, rather than relying heavily on deep shots. Houston will hope to keep the game on the lower scoring end of things, but if it does turn into a high-flying back-and-forth offensive track meet, Boutte will bring upside.
The Bottom Line
Boutte’s big-play ability and the potential for a larger role make him worth owning in most standard-sized fantasy leagues as a player with upside as the season goes on. He can be an emergency fill-in in any matchup since he has the potential for spike weeks with a big play or two.
However, the move from New England to Houston isn’t an upgrade in passing offense, and he is very unproven with his new squad since this will be his first game action with the Texans. He’s extremely high-risk to start in Week 1 and should likely be avoided in any lineups outside of extremely deep leagues or if you have multiple other receivers out with injuries.
Long-term, Boutte has enough upside to be worth watching, but starting him in Week 1 is a desperation move to avoid.
