Nico Collins fantasy football insight from Hayden Winks - PPR Rankings

Collins is a total freak. At 6'4"/222, he showcases elite build up speed on his vertical routes, while also having the fluidity to be an asset after the catch on screens and slants. If ranking WRs based on real-life talent, I'd place him 3rd or 4th. Since 2023, Collins is the WR7 on WR14 usage using PPR scoring. He's the WR3 in yards per target (10.3) and WR6 in EPA per target (+0.48) despite having incredible volume in a mediocre offense. The hope is eventually CJ Stroud gets his groove back. Last year, targets to Collins had a 62% catchable ball rate. That was 76% in both 2023 and 2024. He also had a 16% screen rate in those two seasons versus just 3% last year. Seems dumb, Mr. Caley! On top of this, the Texans were 32nd in percentage of their red zone drives finishing with a TD (32%), which is a stat that is bound for regression. 19 red zone targets to Collins resulted 3.1 yards per target, -8% completion percentage over expected, 37% success rate, and just 3 touchdowns. Shocking. Houston's offensive coaching staff and OL deeply worry me, but Collins is too elite and Stroud has flashed too much potential to ignore a reasonable ADP of WR9. It'd be a fireable offense for him to not be a top-15 fantasy WR at this point, and if everything clicks, Collins has a very similar skillset to the Justin Jefferson, Puka Nacua, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba tier of receivers. I want Collins on my team.