Sleepers on the Houston Texans

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As we race toward August, Footballguys.com will look at one team per weekday with our quick-hitting Team Sleepers feature, where we check out the players we think will surprise this year.

Go Deeper: See in-depth projections for every Texans player here >>>

This is a weekday series that will stretch through July 30. If you like this and want another, come back the next workday. Another will be here.

Sleepers We Are Targeting on the Texans

We asked the Footballguys staff to identify a player they believe will outperform their current draft price. There wasn't much consensus, so we ended up with the longest list so far.

• RB Joe Mixon - 2 votes
• DT Denico Autry - 1 vote
• WR Noah Brown - 1 vote
• WR Stefon Diggs - 1 vote
• TE Brevin Jordan - 1 vote
• RB Jawhar Jordan - 1 vote
• RB Dameon Pierce - 1 vote
• TE Dalton Schultz - 1 vote
• One of their backups - 1 vote
• No One - 1 vote

Reasons Joe Mixon Could Be a Sleeper

• Ryan Weisse: Everyone else on the team has competition, but Mixon does not. He will be the lead back and should put up similar numbers to 2023, where he was the RB6 in fantasy.
• Jeff Haseley: You want fantasy running backs on good offenses, and that's what Mixon has in Houston. He's the lead back by far and should have a high percentage of the team's carries.

Reasons Denico Autry Could Be a Sleeper

• Kyle Bellefeuil: The Texans’ defensive line is stout, and Autry could thrive being deployed along the interior. He’s a sneaky good value pick in true-position leagues.

Reasons Noah Brown Could Be a Sleeper

• Bob Harris: Since we're still in best-ball season, I'm going off the board for a free-square play in Brown, who had six-catch, 153-yard, one-touchdown game in Week 9, and a seven-catch, 172-yard outing in Week 10 last year. Brown will be available with the last pick in your Underdog draft and might be an ideal final piece in a Houston stack.

Reasons Stefon Diggs Could Be a Sleeper

• Phil Alexander: Diggs was still playing wide receiver at an elite level in the first half of last season. I'm not sure what happened down the stretch in Buffalo, but it wasn't an erosion of Diggs' skills. Take the discount.

Reasons Brevin Jordan Could Be a Sleeper

• Andy Hicks: Jordan has missed a lot of time in his career to date, but Dalton Schultz is just a guy. Jordan will be invisible as a target with the strength of the wide receivers.

Reasons Jawhar Jordan Could Be a Sleeper

• Jeff Bell: Jawhar Jordan is a name to watch. The team added Joe Mixon, and there was frustration about Dameon Pierce as a scheme fit; Jordan is a sixth-round pick who may be a step slow but can be a stylistic match to a player like Matt Breida, whom Bobby Slowik coached in San Francisco. 

Reasons Dameon Pierce Could Be a Sleeper

• Ben Cummins: I’m not ready to give up on Pierce. He has upside should something happen to Joe Mixon.

Reasons Dalton Schultz Could Be a Sleeper

• Julia Papworth: If you draft your tight end late, consider Dalton Shultz, who managed a 17% target share and five touchdowns last year. Schultz has been TE10 or better the past three years and is worth a shot to pay off his tenth-round ADP.

Reasons One of their backups Could Be a Sleeper

• Corey Spala: A high-powered offense will result in any backup being a sleeper. Dameon Pierce to Joe Mixon, Brevin Jordan to Dalton Schultz, or Noah Brown to the wide receiver group.

Reasons No One Could Be a Sleeper

• Jason Wood: One of the trio of receivers -- Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, or Tank Dell could finish as a top-12 option, but that requires injuries to beset one or both of the others.

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