Texans fans react to Tank Dell playing punt returner during Steelers preseason - "Gonna get smacked by punters"

Tank Dell, the Houston Texans wide receiver, made his on-field return in Friday's preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, his first in-game action since he broke his leg late in the 2023-24 season. However, it was not at slot receiver, but rather punt returner, which he had done as a rookie.

In his first return attempt of the game, he was tackled hard by former teammate Cameron Johnston.

Thus, not everyone was impressed by the move by head coach DeMeco Ryans.

"And Tank Dell gonna get smacked by punters all year lmao," a fan said.

More of the dismay can be seen below:

"Same," one agreed.

"I was holding my breath," another admitted.

"Nice punt return, unfortunately that doesn’t help my fantasy team," yet another opined.

Dell did open the scoring just a few minutes later, catching a 34-yard touchdown pass from CJ Stroud.

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Tank Dell primed for a breakout as a sophomore

With Tank Dell back on the field, he should be primed for a monstrously productive second season in the NFL, according to Michael Shapiro.

The trade for Stefon Diggs has increased the Texans' talent ceiling, with the former Buffalo Bill being a dominant target machine with five seasons of at least 100 catches (the first of them having come with the Minnesota Vikings). Pairing him with Nico Collins creates a top-tier corner duo that secondaries will attempt to throw multi-man coverage at more likely than not, thus freeing up the sophomore for drag routes, slants and curls.

That has helped the Texans make a massive leap in CBS Sports' offensive rankings - from 30th all the way to 8th. But for Dell, statistics mean nothing unless they come with the Lombardi Trophy.

"We ready," second-year receiver Tank Dell told Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston in June. "We're all excited. We know we have a target on our back. We got a lot of things we want to accomplish: Super Bowl, playoffs, things like that. So we're ready to go work."

The Texans are currently up 14-0 against the Steelers after Dare Ogunbowale ran four yards for six.