What to Like (and Dislike) About Jaylin Noel's Week 8

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

It's noting that 44 of Noel's 63 receiving yards came on a single deep connection early in the second quarter. His remaining receptions went for 4, 7, 8, and 0 yards.

That's not necessarily a good or bad thing. Most WRs working primarily from the slot will see their work focused in the short range. So we should be aware when a single play constitutes such a large share of any player's yardage total. But it's also clearly a good thing that Houston designed a play to target the rookie slot man deep.

Noel's playing time remained a negative vs. San Francisco, though.

He played 31 total snaps, which ranked fourth among Houston WRs and marked just a 39% share of the team's total offensive plays. Noel beat Berrios by just eight total snaps and three pass routes (19-16), and he likely benefited at least at little on that front from Berrios leaving briefly in the second half following a chest injury.

Berrios matched Noel's 5 catches and trailed him by just one target.

Noel's a third-round rookie, so it's understandable to limit his exposure a bit. But Berrios is a 30-year-old, eighth-year vet who hasn't reached 30 catches in a season since 2022 (with the Jets). Houston didn't activate him until the past two games. And second-year undrafted free agent WR Jared Wayne edged Noel in snaps despite just being elevated from the practice squad for Sunday's game.

Wayne's a bigger outside receiver, so the correlation is less direct here. But my point is that Houston's still trying to limit Noel's offensive snaps -- even in a game that saw classmate (and college teammate) Jayden Higgins lead the group in playing time and targets.

Noel's 13 targets across the past two weeks shows the Texans like the talent. And that's strong confirmation for his longer-term upside. We'll see if Noel can wedge further into the offense even after Christian Kirk returns.

But his usage to this point suggests we should expect a healthy Kirk to take the slot back over -- at least initially.

Dynasty Impact

Here's where you should definitely feel good about holding Noel. The rookie already ranks fourth on the team in receptions -- leading Higgins in that category and receiving yards, while trailing by just one target -- in spite of the playing-time limitations.

Noel might have trouble presenting fantasy value the rest of this season, but he'll be intriguing for 2026 and beyond at least.