Nathaniel Jasper "Tank" Dell Jr. (born October 29, 1999) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Alabama A&M Bulldogs,

Independence Community College Independence Community College is a public community college in Independence, Kansas. It was formerly Independence Community Junior College. History Independence Community College was established in 1925 as grades 13 and 14 of the Independence p ...

, and

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

College career

Dell attended

Mainland High School Mainland High School is a public high school located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It is attended by 1,979 students of grades nine through twelve. The mascot is a Buccaneer and strongly resembles the old logo of the Tampa Bay Buccanee ...

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach is a coastal Resort town, resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona� ...

. He had originally committed to

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

(FIU) to play college football but attended

Alabama A&M University Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M or AAMU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. It was one of about 180 " normal s ...

instead. After one year at Alabama A&M in which he had 12 receptions for 364 yards and three touchdowns, he transferred to

. In his lone year at Independence, he had 52 receptions for 766 yards and eight touchdowns. Dell transferred to the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

in 2020. In his first year at Houston, he led the team with 29 receptions for 428 yards and three touchdowns over eight games. In 2021, he again led the team with 90 receptions for 1,329 yards with 12 touchdowns. He returned to Houston as the number one receiver in 2022, during which he made 100 receptions for 1,398 receiving yards and 17 receiving touchdowns in only 13 games played.

College statistics

Professional career

Dell was selected by the

in the third round, 69th overall, of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

. In Week 11 against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

, Dell caught eight passes for a career-high 149 yards, and one touchdown. In Week 13 against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, Dell suffered a fractured

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

and was ruled out for the rest of the season. He underwent surgery to repair the fibula the next day. He finished the season with 47 catches for 709 yards and seven touchdowns, which was among the rookie leaders at the time of the injury. In Week 9 of the 2024 season, against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, Dell had six receptions for 126 yards in the 21–13 loss. During the Texans’ Week 16 matchup against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

, Dell collided with teammate

Jared Wayne Jared Emmanuel Wayne (born October 7, 2000) is a Canadian professional American football, football wide receiver for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers football, Pitts ...

on a touchdown pass from

C. J. Stroud Coleridge Bernard "C. J." Stroud IV (born October 3, 2001) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes f ...

and suffered a season-ending knee injury that included a dislocated knee, multiple torn ligaments, and meniscus damage. Prior to the injury, Dell had 51 catches for 667 yards and three touchdowns. Later, it was reported he was likely to miss the entire next season while recovering from the injury.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Personal life

On April 27, 2024, Dell sustained minor injuries from a shooting in

Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city and the county seat of Seminole County, Florida, United States. It is located in Central Florida and its population was 61,051 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical ...

. He was released from the hospital the next day.

References

External links

*
Houston Texans bioHouston Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dell, Nathaniel 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Daytona Beach, Florida American football wide receivers Alabama A&M Bulldogs football players Independence Pirates football players Houston Cougars football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Mainland High School alumni American shooting survivors