Jaylin Noel — Week 3: Two Catches and a Third-Down Run
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 28
Noel caught both targets for 17 yards and ran once for 8, converting third and two at midfield on the drive that ended in Houston's first touchdown. Both targets came before halftime. He returned the opening kickoff 28 yards and the last one 26 to the Houston 31 with 16 seconds left, in a 19–17 loss to the Colts.
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10 to nothing, Colts, eight 13 left in the second quarter, third and two at midfield. Jaylin Noel carried it around right end and was pushed out at the Indianapolis 42 after eight yards, first down. +1.1 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position. Houston kept going from there, and the drive ended in C.J. Stroud's one-yard touchdown throw to Foster Moreau, the Texans' first points.
The line: two targets, two catches, 17 yards, one first down, +0.3 expected points on the targets; one carry, eight yards, one first down, +1.1. The first catch was 12 yards short right on first and 10 from the Houston 20 with four 28 left in the first quarter, the opening snap of a possession that ended in a sack on third and 15 and a punt. The second was five yards on third and seven with 45 seconds left in the half, two short of the line to gain, and Houston punted. Both targets came before halftime. In the return game he took the opening kickoff 28 yards to the Houston 29, brought a punt back 11 yards to the 28 in the third quarter, and returned the kickoff after the Colts' winning field goal 26 yards to the Houston 31, with 16 seconds left when it was kicked.
Two targets on 25 Houston throws with a receiver. Xavier Hutchinson had six, Foster Moreau and Jared Wayne four each, and Dalton Schultz three. Nico Collins was out for a second straight game with a hamstring injury, per NBC Sports.
Back in June the preview had Noel 90-first among wide receivers as a rookie, and said volume, never availability, was the issue, with the slot job open in front of him. Week 1 was two targets and 53 yards, both late in a half. Week 2 was five targets and one catch, with Collins out. Sunday was back to two, again with Collins out. Three games: nine targets, five catches, a hundred one yards, +2 carries for 21. The volume question the preview asked is still open. Houston is home to the Cowboys on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Jaylin Noel's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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