Texans find undrafted gem in WR/TE Stephen Anderson
The Houston Texans added some serious firepower on offense this offseason, but may have unearthed a gem in WR/TE Stephen Anderson as a UDFA…
The Houston Texans made probably the biggest splash offensively this offseason in terms of both free agency and the NFL Draft, but might they have found the next great undrafted player in Cal WR/TE Stephen Anderson?
Early on in the process, Anderson is catching the eye of Texans head coach Bill O’Brien.
Rookie tight end Stephen Anderson impressing Texans coach Bill O'Brien https://t.co/FjP09pg6VV via @HoustonChron
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) June 1, 2016
Undrafted rookie tight end Stephen Anderson (Cal) had some impressive catches, stretching the defense down the middle of the field
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) May 31, 2016
The Texans, like I mentioned, made some huge moves this offseason. They signed Brock Osweiler to a four-year deal to be their new franchise quarterback. They brought in Lamar Miller to be their new lead running back. They drafted Will Fuller and Braxton Miller to add some dynamic speed to the offense.
One position that was lacking some speed was at the ‘move’ tight end spot, so they fixed that by getting Stephen Anderson, the 6-2, 230 pound WR/TE who was catching passes from Jared Goff the last couple of seasons. Anderson runs a 4.58, which is very good for his size. He also had an explosive 38-inch vertical jump, showing off some more athleticism.
There’s a long way to go this offseason for Anderson, but he’s certainly got some skill. You can see clearly from his highlights that he has soft hands, and that translated to 87 catches, 1,135 yards, and seven touchdowns over the last two seasons.
More from NFL Mocks
- 2024 NFL Mock Draft Journal: Cardinals, Falcons tank for USC QB Caleb Williams
- Patriots News & Rumors: Ezekiel Elliott talks fun in Foxboro; Mills to Packers?
- Fantasy Football: 5 reasons Colts QB Anthony Richardson can be a top-end option
- Packers’ Lukas Van Ness will make a Lambeau leap into the NFL in 2023
- 2024 NFL Draft: Hunter Haas’ Top 50 Big Board
With the towering 6-7 C.J. Fiedorowicz likely to be the leader at TE for the Texans, Anderson could be a really nice second tight end to come in and play in-line, in the slot, out wide, or wherever to present even more mismatches for an offense that has created a lot of problems for defenses to have to gameplan against.
Not only do you have to probably assign two players to account for DeAndre Hopkins at all times, you have to deal with dynamic speed at every other position and this very underrated tight end prospect.
The Texans can be really creative in using him, but we’ll get an even clearer picture of what he’s going to bring to the table when the pads go on for training camp. If he continues to catch the eye of coaches, he might get on the field sooner rather than later and could be one of this year’s top undrafted gems.