When Texans' Nico Collins knew C.J. Stroud would be special

ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime revealed that it didn't take long for Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins to know that rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud would be special enough to guide the club to the playoffs in Stroud's debut NFL season. 

"The way [Stroud] first walked in the building, you could tell he had that 'it' factor. You could just feel it," Collins told Bien-Aime back in August. "When the game slows down for him and he figures out it's just football at the end of the day, it's going to be a scary sight. The sky's the limit for him. I can't wait to see it."

Collins' words proved to be prophetic. While concerns related to Stroud's reported S2 Cognition Test score hovered over his status before Houston made him the No. 2 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, the 22-year-old became a legitimate Most Valuable Player candidate this past fall. In January, the Pro Football Writers of America voted Stroud their Offensive Rookie of the Year. He could next take home the Associated Press' version of the award that will be given out at the "NFL Honors" ceremony on Thursday night. 

According to ESPN stats, Stroud ended this past regular season ranked 15th in the NFL among qualified players with a 57.4 adjusted QBR, sixth with a 100.8 passer rating and first with an average of 273.9 yards through the air per game. Across 15 contests, he tossed 23 touchdown passes and only five interceptions. 

In the 45-14 wild-card playoff win over the Cleveland Browns on Jan. 13, Stroud completed 16-of-21 passes for 274 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. 

Houston's campaign ended via a 34-10 loss at the Baltimore Ravens the following weekend, but Stroud gave his teammates and others within the organization reason to believe that the Texans could be chasing a Super Bowl berth as soon as next January.