The Texans came flying back from a Week 8 bye with 44 points in a road win over the Chargers. After losing the first four games of the season, the Texans bounced back and won three of their last four, scoring at least 21 points in each of their last five games. During that offensive surge, the team got Tank Dell back into the mix after his long recovery from a major knee injury. Dell has looked very productive in his two games since returning, but should he be an option you’re checking out on the Week 10 fantasy football waiver wire?
Let’s look at his production in the last two games and his fantasy football outlook going forward to determine if he deserves a spot on your roster.
Tank Dell’s long road back
Ever since Week 4, we’ve been highlighting Tank Dell at DK Network as a potential stash. The speedy receiver was originally a third-round pick by the Texans out of Houston in 2023 and was productive as a rookie and in his second season before both campaigns were cut short by significant injuries. In Week 16 of 2024, he was injured while making a heroic 30-yard touchdown against the Chiefs. He suffered a dislocated kneecap, tears to his ACL, MCL and LCL, and additional meniscus damage. Since the injury was so severe, he missed the rest of the season and the entire 2025 season.
He started this season on IR but was activated and made his season debut in Week 7 just before the bye week. He played 14 offensive snaps in his return, catching his one target for a 43-yard gain and showing he still had plenty of speed.
After the Week 8 bye, Dell was even more involved in the Texans’ passing game against the Chargers. He finished that game with 23.5 FPTS by catching four passes for 105 yards and this long touchdown, sending the sideline into a frenzy after his long road back from injury.
Tank Dell Fantasy Football Outlook
While his 100-plus yards and long touchdown were impressive, perhaps even more importantly, Dell led the team with nine targets, while no other receiver had more than five targets. He played 33 snaps (47%), which was third among receivers behind Xavier Hutchinson and Nico Collins, but ahead of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Kayshon Boutte.
The team actually put Dell back into the game late to get him the extra boost to get over 100 yards, and they are definitely counting on him to be a big part of their receiver rotation going forward.
The Texans do have many options at wide receiver after trading for Harrison and Boutte over the last year, but Dell is lined up to still be very involved on a weekly basis. He has good speed off the line and over the top, and he has a strong chemistry with C.J. Stroud, who has dialed him up for big plays throughout their time together in the NFL.
Since Dell is still just recovering from a long layoff and is still big-play reliant, he is not an every-week automatic starter just yet. However, the Texans have gone pass-heavy this season, trusting Stroud to spread the ball around. Dell is a volatile FLEX option with a high ceiling at this point, and this week’s matchup against the Browns should be a fascinating matchup to watch to see how exactly the Texans approach his playing time and targets if this week’s game stays more competitive than last week’s blowout.
While he was a “stash” earlier this season, he had the potential to become the team’s second receiver and be a weekly starting option, and he seems well on his way to realizing that potential after last week’s big game.
The Bottom Line: Add Tank Dell in all formats, start in FLEX in deep leagues
Dell is a great option to add to your roster from the waiver wire in almost all formats due to his high upside. If he can consistently get so much work, he’ll be one of the best receiver pickups of the season. In standard-sized leagues, it still makes sense to be cautious with inserting him into lineups after just one big game, but in deep leagues or emergency situations, he is viable against the Browns this week.
For DFS fantasy football contests, like the NFL $2.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st] on DraftKings, Dell is an elite value option at only $3,900. With his volume from last week, he has a very high ceiling for a player under $4,000, and even though he is sharing reps, he’ll be a great play at that price with the potential to be one of the top bargain value plays available in Week 10.
