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When will Nico Collins return and play? Will Nico Collins be back again this season? Read the latest Nico Collins injury updates and return date for Week 9 (2025).
After showing a few flashes of his potential in his first two seasons, Nico Collins broke out in 2023, his first season with C.J. Stroud. Collins had an insane start to his fourth season, recording 567 yards in his first five games before being slowed down with a hamstring injury, though he still managed to return and earn his first career Pro Bowl selection.
Collins' start to the 2025 season hasn't been as insane as his 2024 campaign, but he was clearly getting into his groove before the Texans' bye week. However, he suffered a concussion in the team's first game back after the bye, causing him to miss the Texans' Week 8 victory over the 49ers.
When will Collins return to action, and what is his fantasy football outlook when he does? Let's dive in.
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Nico Collins Injury Update
After an uneventful Week 1 showing to kick off the 2025 campaign, Collins caught 19 of his 31 targets for 287 yards and three touchdowns over his next four games, finishing as the half-PPR WR10 during that span.
Nico Collins Trending Toward a Week 9 Return https://t.co/vOUbtn5Cbe
— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) October 27, 2025
Coming out of their Week 6 bye, Collins and the Texans needed to "lock in" and continue playing well to stay alive in the playoff race. However, Collins was injured in the fourth quarter of the Texans' Week 7 loss to the Seahawks and missed their Week 8 victory over the 49ers.
But it looks like Collins won't be out for long. Per KRPC 2's Aaron Wilson, Collins is "trending towards a return" as head coach DeMeco Ryans assesses his progress this week.
Most players usually spend no longer than a week in concussion protocol unless they have a long history with concussions, so seeing Collins on the field in Week 9 is likely.
Nico Collins Fantasy Football Outlook
The 49ers' defense is pretty bad, but the way the Texans dominated them was a very encouraging sign. They had the ball for over 41 minutes, and Stroud has been on a roll in recent weeks.
Over his last four games, the former Rookie of the Year has thrown for 1,024 yards and nine touchdowns to just two picks with a sparkling 104.2 passer rating while leading his team to a 3-1 record.
It seems like Houston's franchise quarterback is back to his best following a poor start to the season. Stroud's great form should be good news for Collins' fantasy outlook. However, their strength of schedule should not be overlooked.
Their last three wins came against the Titans and the injured Ravens and 49ers, hardly the best defenses in the league.
The Texans will only face two bottom-ten defenses (the Titans in Week 11 and the Raiders in Week 16) for the rest of the season, as they'll face elite defenses such as the Broncos, Colts (twice), and Chiefs.
Regardless of how strong their opponents are defensively, the Texans have the best defense in the league in terms of yards and points allowed this season, so they'll always have a chance every week.
With Joe Mixon still out due to injury, the Stroud to Collins connection will be the key part of Houston's offense for the time being.
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 9 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Kimani Vidal, Rico Dowdle, Quentin Johnston, Tez Johnson, Jordan Mason, Wan'Dale Robinson. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 9. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 9 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 9 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Kimani Vidal, Rico Dowdle, Quentin Johnston, Tez Johnson, Jordan Mason, Wan'Dale Robinson. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 9.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 9 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 9 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 9 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Deciding who to start instead? Below are some popular Week 9 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Kimani Vidal, Rico Dowdle, Quentin Johnston, Tez Johnson, Jordan Mason, Wan'Dale Robinson compared to others:
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