WR Stefon Diggs takes on mentor role

At the end of every practice, you can almost always see Stefon Diggs hanging out with one of his younger teammates.

At 30, he is considered an elder statesman on the Texans roster.

Most of the time, he’s with his fellow receivers, whether it’s Tank Dell, Nico Collins or John Metchie III, giving them advice on how he might run a certain route, his workout routine and recovery.

After competing with them on the field, he told cornerbacks Kamari Lassiter and Derek Stingley Jr. that if they needed anything from him, they wouldn’t hesitate to let him know.

Although he’s only been in Houston since April, Diggs has become a mentor to the Texans’ younger roster. It’s a role he’s been playing for a long time, but one that Houston fans are starting to appreciate.

“Because I have experience, I think it’s the right thing to do,” Diggs said Monday. “There’s a lot of young guys on this team, a lot of humble, hungry guys. And not just Tank. Nico, he just got paid, and he’s still looking for knowledge. He just wants to get better.”

“I feel like it’s the right thing to do, not only where I am in my career, but it’s the way I’ve always been for a long time. I’ve always been ahead of the curve.”

PODCAST FIFTH DOWN: Key takeaways from the Texans’ first days of training camp

The Texans traded a 2025 second-round pick for Diggs and a sixth-round pick last April. After things went south in Buffalo, Diggs and the Bills were looking for a fresh start. Meanwhile, the Texans were looking for another playmaker who could help make their offense unstoppable.

Enter Diggs, who caught 107 passes for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns last season.

One of the misconceptions surrounding Diggs’ departure from Buffalo was that he was a selfish player.

The qualities he has shown so far indicate otherwise. He is passionate and wants to win. He also wants his teammates to experience what he has experienced.

“We ask him questions a lot,” Dell said. “Especially me and (Metchie). We’re always asking him questions. And we don’t even have to ask him questions. He just comes up and starts talking about things he saw when he was with the Vikings or in Buffalo.

“He gives us all the time off. He wants us to be excellent. He tells us what to expect, how to move and things like that.”

For the Texans’ young receivers, the future looks bright. Collins had 1,296 receiving yards and eight touchdowns last season in a breakout year. He was rewarded with a three-year, $72.75 million contract extension, making him one of the highest-paid receivers in the NFL.

Dell had rushed for 747 yards and was closing in on 1,000 yards before an injury ended his rookie season.

Metchie, a second-round pick in the 2022 draft, is having a strong training camp and should have a much better season in his third year.

When Diggs was drafted by the NFL in 2015, Collins was just 16 and playing high school football in Alabama. Dell was 15 in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Metchie was 14 in Maryland, having moved from Canada.

Diggs became an instant star. He was named to the Pro Bowl four times during his career. He has six consecutive seasons of 1,000-plus receiving yards.

And no one can forget “the miracle in Minneapolis,” when he caught the game-winning touchdown pass against the Saints from Case Keenum in the Vikings’ divisional round game in 2017.

Those moments happened long before playing for the Texans became a reality for Houston’s young group of receivers.

“I’ve been watching him for a while,” Collins said. “When I was in high school, he was in Minnesota and doing some plays, so it’s crazy that he’s on the team, that he’s a veteran in the room. Someone I can count on.”

RELATED: How Joe Mixon Fits In With the Texans

When asked what the best piece of advice he’s received from Diggs is, Collins said there are too many to count.

Not only does Diggs help his teammates learn, he also asks them for advice. It’s not a one-way street. That’s what offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik says he likes most about Diggs. He’s integrated into the Texans’ culture.

“He wants to help teach the kids,” Slowik said. “He wants to be a leader. He also wants other guys in the room, when they have something for him, to coach him and teach him something, to get something from Nico, to get something from Tank, to accept him — he’s one of us. That’s the first thing that jumps out at me — he’s one of us.”

Diggs said he has always tried to be a role model and mentor to younger players, whether they were his younger brothers or his younger teammates. It’s a role he was forced to take on after his father, Aron, died when he was 14.

Diggs has become a father figure to his younger brothers Trevon, who plays cornerback for the Cowboys, and Darez, who played in the XFL.

“As a young adult, up until now, my goal has always been to bring as many people with me as possible,” Diggs said. “No matter how successful you are, always try to bring as many people with you as possible. You don’t dim your light by shining on anyone else.”

“These guys are really special.”

This Texans team certainly has a chance to succeed. Coming off an 11-8 season that saw them advance to the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs, the Texans have added a lot of offensive elements with Diggs.

That’s one of the reasons Diggs was thrilled to be traded to Houston.

Diggs is considered one of the leaders and mentors of the receiver group. The bond is real. They all have specific handshakes for each other at the beginning of practice. And at the end, they share information they’ve gathered.

“We’re all on the same page and he’s years ahead of us in terms of experience and time in the league,” Metchie said of Diggs. “It’s great to see someone like you. They have the same mentality. We all get along really well and feed off each other because we love this business. There’s a great energy in the room.”