Fantasy Upside
Hamstrung (literally) during a rookie season where he displayed flashes of vast potential as he battled a chronic hamstring injury, Keke Coutee is now healthy and excited about his second NFL season. "I'm feeling great," Coutee said in February. "I'm going to start back training soon, but it's 100%." Of course, Coutee only played in six regular-season games, starting twice. In those games, he caught 28 passes for 287 yards and one touchdown. That would have put him on pace for season totals of 74 catches and 765 yards. Beyond that, ESPN's Mike Clay notes that Coutee played at least two-thirds of the snaps in five games last year. His target totals in those games were 15, seven, five, nine and 14. That's an average of 10.0 and works out to a team share of 28%. So it's safe to say the Texans could have a formidable receiving corps this season, if everyone, including Coutee and Will Fuller, is more durable (All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins played in every game).
Fantasy Downside
Last year's hamstring issues were real and persistent. And as promising as it is to hear Coutee talk about being at full speed -- and that he got there with a lot of stretching and soft-tissue work, “flushing out my body just to get that old scarring tissue out of there” -- his health will be something we'll all be watching closely throughout August and into the regular season.
2019 Bottom Line
As a rookie, Coutee proved that he has the ability. Now, he wants to show that he can be counted on every week. We all know the upside. The question is what price will we have to pay to roll the dice on him. Given the high-end weekly production we've seen from Houston's offense with Deshaun Watson under center, giving Coutee a shot as your WR4 seems reasonable.
