You would be hard pressed to enter any NFL locker room without finding at least two players from the same college football program.
They may have even crossed paths at some point during their college years.
It’s safe to say that the Texans’ rookie receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel are not your usual alumni connections. The Iowa State duo were not just teammates and 1A and 1B receivers for the Cyclones last season, but also true friends. The kind of friends who fish together, hoop against each other and even roomed together on the road when they played for ISU.
They never imagined ending up together on the same NFL team as rookies.
“I was at my house, and I had to do all the Zoom interviews and stuff like that after I got drafted,” said Higgins, the first player the Texans took in last month’s draft in the second round (34th overall). “Then I go out there and look at the TV and I wonder if [WR] Jaylin [Noel] has been drafted and then I see it’s like four picks until Houston is up and they said Jaylin hadn’t gotten drafted yet. Then I felt like Houston was going to get him. A couple of teams didn’t get him, and he came to us, and it’s amazing.”
The Texans went into this draft very much in need of some receiving targets for C.J. Stroud. Stefon Diggs moved on after playing part of one season with the Texans, and Tank Dell’s injury is so severe that the Texans are lucky if the worst thing they will say is he missed the entire 2025 season.
So, the Texans needed a receiver like Higgins. They were fortunate to grab another one in the third round in Noel, who was the 79th overall player taken.
But the real blessing may come when we see how well these two can play with and against each other this season.
They’ve only had a couple of rookie minicamp practices together as pros, so we can’t start talking about their impact now. But their chemistry and connection can make them interesting to watch throughout minicamp, OTAs, fall camp and into the season.
They were special to watch together last season with their production with the Cyclones damn near equal. Noel, the smaller and speedier of the two, technically led the Cyclones in receiving with 1,194 yards and eight touchdowns on 80 receptions, while Higgins finished the season with 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns on 87 catches.
But bigger than their almost equal numbers was how they dissected defenses while playing off each other last season. It sounds like that’s what general manager Nick Caserio and DeMeco Ryans were thinking when Noel basically fell into their laps on Day 2 of the NFL Draft.
“Seeing Jayden and Jaylin together is just – I think it’s very comforting for those guys being able to work together in college for the past couple years and being able to be drafted to the same team,” Ryans said. “I think it’s a unique situation for them, but I think both guys will benefit a lot from it.”
They already are, if for no other reason than their familiarity. While all the rookies are learning from each other and will be tasked with doing the same with the veteran players, Noel and Higgins are already tight.
“We are really similar people on how we approach the game,” Noel said. “We both love the game, we are curious within our game and just finding ways to get better. Then it just really grew to having a connection off the field, finding out we like to fish together and having those conversations.”
But they also aren’t afraid to push each other. They’ve done so on the football field, while fishing and even on the basketball court, where the 6-foot-4 Higgins swears he is better. The 5-foot-11 Noel finds it funny that Higgins thinks that.
“I won’t say too much, but I think I have a better jump shot,” Noel said.
