Failing to have the season he wanted thus far won't stop Tank Dell from working at it.
After a breakout rookie year was cut short by a broken leg, Dell entered his second season with heightened expectations both individually and for the Texans as a whole thanks to Houston's splashy offseason.
Although the Texans clinched the AFC South on Sunday, three games sooner than they did the year prior, neither they nor Dell have necessarily lived up to the hype -- something the young wideout knows he still has time to change.
"I'm definitely trying to improve my role and become a big factor on this team," Dell said, per . "Me, personally, I feel like my season hasn't been good. I know what I'm capable of. I feel like I can play much better. It starts with me. I got to go out there with a clean slate, a clean mind and make the plays I'm capable of making."
Dell showed exactly what he was capable of in 2023, emerging alongside Nico Collins for 47 receptions, 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games.
He's appeared in 13 contests this time around and has seen one fewer target (74) while producing 45 catches for 569 yards and two touchdowns. His yards per reception have dropped from 15.1 to 12.6, and he's at time looked a touch slower.
That can be expected coming off a season-ending leg injury, not to mention Dell suffering a gunshot wound in April.
He had to work his way back from both, but that didn't stop a coronation of Houston as budding 撸先生AV world-beaters after quarterback C.J. Stroud's own exemplary rookie season and the addition of former All-Pro wideout Stefon Diggs.
Diggs went down with a torn ACL in Week 8, though, and while Collins has continued his ascent, Dell and -- to a lesser degree -- Stroud have both fallen short of expectations.
The offense is ranked exactly where it was last year in scoring, 13th, albeit while averaging 23.4 points per game compared to 22.2. The team's offensive yardage has fallen from 12th in the league to 19th thanks to producing 18.2 fewer yards per game.
It's minimal, but those numbers are striking for what was expected.
Still, Dell and Co. have three games remaining to continue jelling before the playoffs, with their next two coming versus heavyweights -- today against the AFC No. 1 seed Kansas City Chiefs and Christmas Day against the Baltimore Ravens, who knocked them out of the playoffs last season.
"We definitely want to send messages to opposing teams," Dell said. "We're focused one game at a time. That's just our mindset.
"To piggyback on that, I just keep honing in on the details and really focus on the things I need to improve on. I look back at the season I had and what I messed up and just try go forward."
