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Did they forget about Tank Dell? The last time we saw him, he was catching a 30-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud vs. Kansas City. Seconds later, his career changed. One of the biggest steals of the 2023 NFL Draft has n't played a game in almost 2 years. And now, for the fourth time in the 26-year-old's career, he has to prove the skeptics wrong. But this time, instead of proving he's good enough, it's whether he can ever be that player again. If you enjoy NFL stories like this, hit the like button. And if you're new to the channel and want to see more, don't forget to subscribe to The Score. If you're wondering what those other three times were that Nathaniel Dell had to prove the skeptics wrong, we have to go back to
high school. At 5'8" and 150 pounds, Dell spent his first two years of high school on the junior team. He earned a full-time spot on the varsity team as a junior in a wide receiver group that featured three Division I signees. Heading into his senior year, he was the focal point of Mainland's offense after an impressive summer of 7-on-7 camps. One of those summer camps was for Florida International. He impressed so much that FIU offered him a scholarship just days later, before his senior season. As a two-star recruit and the 400th overall wide receiver in the class of 2018, that was his first and only Division I offer. But as the season progressed,
communication between him and the program dwindled until they eventually ignored him altogether. And Dell took the hint that FIU had withdrawn the offer. He watched his teammates receive lucrative scholarships, but when the signing window opened in December, he hadn't heard from anyone. His only opportunity came from his teammate, Brian Jenkins, whose father was recently signed as running backs coach at Alabama A&M. And Dad got the green light to offer his son, but also Dell, in a package deal. Tank said that when he arrived on campus that fall, he had already told himself he would go to a JUCO the following semester, that he could aspire to something bigger. But first, he had a season to play with the Bulldogs. A hip injury
in the first week kept Dell off the field for most of the season, but he took over in the Magic City Classic, the annual rivalry game between the two largest HBCU programs in the state, tearing Alabama State apart with 204 yards and two touchdowns on just six receptions. By the end of the season, however, he had played in only four games, enough to preserve his redshirt and another year of college eligibility should he need it. When he returned from winter break at Alabama A&M, he informed the coaching staff of his plans to enter the transfer portal and pursue a college career. By the end of the week, he was on a flight to Kansas to attend Independence Community College, a school which should sound familiar to college football fans. ICC was the
featured program in seasons 3 and 4 of Netflix's "Last Chance U" for its 2017 and 2018 seasons. Dell arrived on campus in the winter of 2019. He was recruited by head coach Jason Brown, but Brown resigned after alarming behavior and text messages from Dell during the spring semester came to light. It was a mental challenge for Tank to move from Daytona Beach, Florida, to Independence, Kansas, an agricultural town of only 9,000 residents. Dell still had dreams of playing college football in his home state of Florida. So when the University of South Florida held a JUCO camp in the summer before his freshman season at ICC, he made sure to be
there. And USF liked what they saw. So they stayed in touch throughout the season. Dell started the year strong, with 148 yards and three touchdowns in ICC's season opener. Talks with USF escalated, But given how the season started, he wanted to keep his options open. In 10 games, he racked up 52 receptions, 766 yards, and eight touchdowns. Eventually, he was on the radar of multiple Division I programs. Akron made him an offer, as did Central Michigan and Houston, with his USF offer already in the bag. Dell told South Florida that he was ready to commit, but wanted to wait until his birthday to make the return to his home state even more special. Suddenly, two weeks before his birthday, the exact same thing happened. USF wasn't responding. The
Independence wide receivers coach perfectly described Dell's recruiting process, saying that coaches were telling him he was an accurate player, that his film stood out, but that he didn't pass the visual test. " It would be hard for me to bring him to my head coach." That might have been the case with USF, but Dell still had an offer to play under Dana Holgorsen in Houston. And it ended up being the best decision of his career to this day. In the 2020 season, Shortened by COVID, he led the team in receptions with a modest 428 yards and three touchdowns in eight games, but no one could have predicted what was about to happen.
Dell may have only gained 5 pounds and an inch in height since his senior year of high school. What he did develop was his footwork, speed, and route-running ability. In his sophomore season with the Cougars, he led the conference in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns: 90 receptions, 1,329 yards, and 12 touchdowns. He was one of the most productive pass receivers in the country. Thanks to his redshirt season at Alabama A&M, Dell still had one more year of college eligibility. In that season, he somehow managed to produce even better numbers, leading the nation in receiving yards with 1,398 and receiving touchdowns with 17. And yet, NFL Draft experts said he would be a day two pick.
Despite surpassing the production of each of The first- round picks. He measured 5'8" and 165 pounds at the NFL Draft Combine, it's not hard to see why. At the Combine, Dell had the opportunity to catch passes from C.J. Stroud, who was projected to be one of the best picks in his class. The two formed an instant relationship. So much so that when Stroud was selected by the Houston Texans, general manager Nick Caserio asked the quarterback what the team should do with their subsequent draft picks. Houston ultimately used that information from Stroud to select Dell in the third round with the 69th overall pick. Unlike first-round picks Jackson Smith-Njigba and Quentin Johnston, Dell had an immediate impact on the Texans' offense.
He had 10 passes completed in week two, reaching the end zone. In 10 games, he had three 100-yard performances and scored seven times. He finished his rookie season with 709 yards on 47 receptions. Dell was clearly the number two choice behind Nico Collins. Houston was the fourth-ranked passing offense in yards per play in 2023, finishing the season with an average of 292.6 passing yards per game. They went from a record of 3-13-1 the previous year to becoming AFC South champions. Tank continued to be one of C.J.'s favorite targets. Stroud in 2024. In week 16 against Kansas City, Dell was in the middle of one of the best
games of his career. In the Texans' opening offensive series of the second half, he caught a 30-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at 17. He already had 98 receiving yards just halfway through the game. But while making the catch, he collided with his teammate Jared Wayne, causing him a serious knee injury that keeps him off the field to this day. Dell underwent two surgeries to repair a dislocated knee, and tears of the anterior cruciate, medial collateral, and lateral collateral ligaments. It ended up being the most difficult year in Dell's life. He missed the entire 2025 season rehabilitating and battling the frustration of an injury that completely changed the promising
start to his NFL career. While he has been away, the Texans' offense has sorely missed him. They selected wide receivers Jayden Higgins and Jailen Noel in the second and third rounds of the 2025 draft, hoping to find another talent equal to their own. But a second target alongside Nico Collins did not emerge, and Houston finished last season as the 18th best passing offense in yards per play. Now, just this week, they traded for Marvin Harrison Jr., Stroud's former teammate, in search of a spark. It seems that even the Texans themselves doubt the chances of Tank Dell ever being the player he once was. But this summer, 592 days
after his devastating injury, he took to the field with his teammates for the first time. He began the season on the physically unable to play list, but head coach DeMeco Ryans announced last week that Tank's practice window has opened. Which means his return is imminent. And it couldn't have come at a better time, as Houston has started the season with one win and four losses. So, while everyone is waiting for the former fourth overall pick and Stroud's Ohio State teammate to save Houston, it would be fitting for Tank Dell, a player who spent his entire career convincing people to believe in him, to prove those who underestimate him wrong once again.
Almost two years have passed. If you've forgotten about Tank Dell, I hope it won't be for much longer. Thanks for watching the video. If you enjoyed this video, please hit the subscribe button and turn on notifications. And don't forget to follow The Score on all your social media platforms.
