The Bills head into Sunday’s season opener in Houston with a secondary that doesn’t leave much margin for error, but the Texans just lost two of the receivers they were counting on to make that matchup a lot tougher.
Tank Dell and Jayden Higgins are both on injured reserve and will miss the game, stripping C.J. Stroud of two of Houston’s most dangerous pass-catching options. Buffalo, meanwhile, kept only three true boundary cornerbacks on its initial 53-man roster: Christian Benford, Maxwell Hairston and rookie Davison Igbinosun.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane didn’t dodge the reality of those numbers after roster cuts, but he did point to the flexibility in the group.
"I feel really good about what's on the 53, I do," Beane said. "Assuming you can stay healthy, that's the one thing you can never predict.
Obviously Christian speaks for himself. I'm excited about Max, IGB, and Dee Alford."
Dee Alford, Buffalo’s starting nickel cornerback, can also line up outside, and defensive back Jordan Hancock has the kind of versatility that can help patch holes across the secondary. That matters in a game like this, because the Bills are walking into Reliant Stadium at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, with a thin room and a big assignment.
The Texans still have Nico Collins, and that alone keeps the receiving corps dangerous. Collins has topped 1,000 receiving yards in three straight seasons and finished 2025 with 71 catches for 1,117 yards and six touchdowns.
But everything behind him looks different now than Houston expected.
Dell’s story has been defined by bursts of production interrupted by brutal injuries. The Texans took him in the third round, No. 69 overall, in the 2023 NFL Draft, and he immediately flashed with 47 catches for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in just 11 games as a rookie before breaking his fibula in Week 13. He came back for the start of 2024 and posted 51 receptions for 667 yards and three touchdowns before disaster struck again against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16.
On a touchdown catch from Stroud, Dell was hit in the end zone when Jared Wayne collided with his right leg. The result was a dislocated kneecap and multiple torn ligaments, including the ACL, MCL and LCL.
He had multiple surgeries, missed the entire 2025 season and, although he returned to practice this summer, he was limited mostly to individual work and hadn’t taken part in 11-on-11 drills since Aug. 10.
Houston placed him on injured reserve during roster cuts, which keeps him out until at least Week 5.
"I'd say he's close," Texans general manager Nick Caserio said last week. "He is not quite there."
Higgins won’t be back this season at all. Houston drafted the 6-foot-4 receiver in the second round, No. 34 overall, in 2025, and he delivered right away with 41 catches for 525 yards as a rookie. His six receiving touchdowns tied Collins for the team lead, and he was expected to start alongside Collins this year before tearing his ACL on Aug. 18 during a joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans called that loss "significant."
Houston moved quickly after that injury, trading with the New England Patriots six days later for Kayshon Boutte. Boutte, 24, brings the most experience of the healthy receivers behind Collins, with 33 catches for 551 yards and six touchdowns last season and 78 receptions in 34 career games.
The rest of the group is much lighter on experience. Xavier Hutchinson, a 2023 sixth-round pick, has 55 receptions in 49 career games.
Jaylin Noel, a third-round pick last year, had 26 catches for 292 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie. Jared Wayne has two receptions in four career games.
Together, Boutte, Hutchinson, Noel and Wayne have 161 career receptions. Collins has 289 on his own.
So Buffalo still has to deal with Collins. That part didn’t change. But the Bills do get a break: they won’t be facing the Texans’ receiving corps the way Houston expected to line it up when the season began.
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