Texans' C.J. Stroud, DeMeco Ryans Highlight Training Camp Star

Every passing NFL training camp, there's bound to be a collection of surprises and risers to take the field among the early 90-man rosters that end up navigating up the depth chart totem pole, capture big roles, and shaking up the outlook of the team from what was initially expected by in the summer.

For the Houston Texans, there's a handful of names to pick from when it comes to impressive camp standouts, but one that's caught notable attention from both head coach DeMeco Ryans and quarterback C.J. Stroud is veteran wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson, who enters his third year with the Texans, seemingly off to a fiery start leading up to the season.

"He looks comfortable, man," Stroud said of Hutchinson at training camp. "He looks like he's finding his own swag in the league. He's looked great. He's not falling on the ground every play; he's staying up, he's running great routes, catching the ball, getting YAC, reliable, knows all of the plays, blocks well. He's coming into a really, really great vet... He's like a Swiss army knife."

For Stroud, Hutchinson is checking all of the necessary boxes, and in the mind of Ryans, the place the wideout has excelled in the most centers upon his preparation and desire to get better.

"Hutchinson, first year, until now, he's just gotten better every year. He's shown what it looks like: when you put the work in, and you're really deliberate about getting better, and you want to get better at your craft, you can do that. That's what he represents, that's what he's done, and credit to him for putting the work in... While no one's around, he's working all the time. It's a credit to him, it shows up, and now he's in a really good spot to help our team."