00:00If you agree with one Xavier Hutchison, wide receiver for the Houston Texans,
00:04on his take on quarterback C.J. Stroud.
00:07That's right.
00:07C.J. Stroud, obviously a big topic of conversation,
00:11no matter where anybody that's on the Houston Texans,
00:14related to the Houston Texans.
00:15Hell, I was at an event.
00:17The Houston Dynamo's Charities did an event yesterday.
00:20And, you know, out there at a top golf, swinging clubs,
00:22and somebody's like, so what you think about C.J. Stroud?
00:24Like, it is unavoidable.
00:26I'm sure that your friends and family are asking you
00:27what you think about C.J. Stroud when you have an opportunity to get with them.
00:31Xavier Hutchison was on a podcast.
00:32I should remember the podcast.
00:33Apologies, I'll get that here in a second.
00:35But give me cut to here.
00:36This is Xavier Hutchison with his take on C.J. Stroud headed into the 2026 season.
00:41I feel like seven's back.
00:43Yeah.
00:44Just from, you know, what I've seen, you know, we've been able to work out together.
00:47We've been able to throw a little bit while I've been up here.
00:51That fire inside to prove all the people who was s***ing and had all these, you know,
00:58wanted to say whatever, had all these hot takes that they wanted to say.
01:01Yeah.
01:02Like, he's here.
01:03Yeah.
01:03And he's going to prove everyone wrong like he's always done his entire life.
01:07Yeah.
01:07So I'm happy that I get to sit back and catch the ball with him.
01:11Yeah.
01:12And be on that field with him.
01:13And hopefully all the haters have the popcorn out because it's not going to look good for you.
01:19Cautiously optimistic.
01:21That's how I felt.
01:23Cautiously optimistic.
01:24And the reason is everything we've seen from C.J. Stroud points to, you know, it taking heart,
01:31you know, literally everything down to cutting his hair.
01:33I mean, you know, from something as simple as that to what coaches are saying,
01:38the work he's putting in now, Xavier Hutchinson and others, what they're saying,
01:42everything points to, all right, C.J. is going to get back to business.
01:47Just the cautious part is just, you know, the old Mike Tyson thing.
01:52Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the mouth.
01:55You know, so I don't think that's unfair, is it?
01:57No, because that's along those same lines, the thought process I had.
02:00I loved hearing him talk about the fire because that's something that Xavier Hutchinson can speak to.
02:06He's been around for these things, and I think that he would have seen the distinction.
02:09I don't think that Xavier Hutchinson says, hey, I see the fire in him.
02:13If the fire had not waned, dulled at some point, I'm not trying to make something here.
02:19No, no, you're not.
02:20I think that's inherent with what he says there.
02:22And so the idea that there is a newfound resolve within C.J. Stroud is incredibly encouraging
02:28because we know what the capabilities are.
02:30The only thing that made me pause in the way that you're talking about the caution that you had
02:34was the idea that, hey, man, I've seen it while we're working out.
02:37I don't think anybody had issues with the practice or the workout instances.
02:41It's when these moments get big, and maybe it's not even specifically that,
02:44but it's like clearly the inability that he showed, at least in those last two games,
02:50to, you know, one, get passed to the right places, make the right decisions per those times.
02:57And, you know, some of it maybe you could talk about the mechanics that we had mentioned,
03:01some of the times where the balls would go over.
03:03Maybe that can show up in the workout.
03:04But I don't know, as you were saying, right, in those moments that we have enough,
03:08even I don't know that he has enough, Xavier Hutchinson,
03:11to say definitively that when you get back to similar moments that this will not happen again.
03:15I do feel good about the possibilities of, hey, with him having more things to depend on,
03:20more things to trust in, which is a stronger offensive line that's going to be tougher,
03:23hopefully an improved run game if that does not show up.
03:27I think that those are the things that I only brought up.
03:28But I love that he comes in, Hutchinson, when mentioning this and saying,
03:33no, the fire is there because that gives you encouragement that he's going to be able to put forward.
03:37The talent that we already have.
03:38I feel very good about where we are with this.
03:41You know, all signs pointing in a positive direction.
03:45The one thing that you have to, you know, sort of take a step back and process is,
03:51yes, we're all, certainly I am, in a good spot with where we are right now with C.J. Stroud
03:56and his focus and his determination, his fire, as you put it.
04:00The question becomes, what has changed to appease him in terms of offense and play calling
04:06and, you know, some of the things that might have been, you know, sort of stumbling blocks for him.
04:11And not only have things not necessarily changed, they seem to be digging in more.
04:16But the good news is, the run game should be better.
04:19And the offensive line should be better.
04:21And he won't be getting, you know, hit as much and be as, you know, frenetic in the pocket.
04:26Yeah, and more advantageous circumstances of second and short, right?
04:29Those are the things that you were hoping for last year.
04:33When you did that well, he showed up pretty well.
04:35When you didn't, you can see the decline in the results.
04:38And so, some of those things helping him have a better foundation to do this off of.
04:42Well, okay.
04:43So, if you go, if we take that comment about fire.
04:46All right.
04:47So, what for you, Xavier Hutchinson, like, why was he so good when that fire was there prior?
04:52This is Hutchinson talking about why C.J. Stroud was so good in 2023.
04:55So, what would you say?
04:55What would Xavier Hutchinson say as to why C.J. Stroud was a top five quarterback after 2023?
04:59I mean, if you really watch the games, like, and you really see what he was doing,
05:03as a rookie especially, like, it was amazing to watch.
05:07Even, like, just, like, just seeing him go about his day.
05:10Yeah.
05:10Like, each and every day.
05:12Like, he showed up every day.
05:13He was the same person.
05:14You knew what you were going to get out of him every day.
05:16And, honestly, he had, like, this sense of, like, unwavering confidence within himself
05:22that, like, you just felt like nobody could shake.
05:24Like, no outcome could shake.
05:26Like, he missed the ball.
05:29You knew that the next ball was going to be right on the line.
05:32And, you know, you go out there and you play freely.
05:36Right.
05:36And, like, you just play to what you know how to do.
05:39And, you know, he's been playing football since probably, like, everyone else,
05:43like, since he was five years old.
05:44Yeah.
05:44So, it's just all about just going out there and just being you.
05:47Yeah.
05:47And that's what he did.
05:48Yeah.
05:49And so, the playing freely part is really what we're talking about here.
05:53Can I ask you, because he said a few things in there,
05:56which of those jumped out the most to you?
05:58Because there was one in particular that jumped out the most to me.
06:00Playing freely?
06:01Okay.
06:02Because, you know, that to me is what you have to have from your quarterback.
06:05That wasn't it for me.
06:06Yeah?
06:06Can I tell you what it was?
06:07What's that?
06:07That if he missed the ball, you knew the next one was going to be on the money.
06:11Mm-hmm.
06:12That is the identifying factor if, I mean, at least one of.
06:16That's my thing with playing freely.
06:17Screw it.
06:18Let's go.
06:18Next one.
06:19You know?
06:20Yeah.
06:20And maybe so.
06:21Maybe that's the case.
06:22But I think that that was where you saw some level of fault with C.J. Stroud,
06:26at least in those two playoff games, at the very least.
06:28Because it was in his head.
06:28Right.
06:29It was one failure of a play begot another, begot another, which is how you end up before
06:35turnovers.
06:35Right?
06:36I think that it is the inability to clear the cash, so to say, and then turn this back
06:40around and get back to producing.
06:42That, as an acknowledgement from Xavier Hutchinson, is very astute.
06:46Mm-hmm.
06:47And I think that if Xavier Hutchinson, who was able to acknowledge that, can then say,
06:52the fire has returned.
06:53Yeah.
06:54That is the thing, yes, that I think is huge.
06:55I will say, when you're asked, what makes him top five?
06:59And you go, you know, just goes about his day.
07:02I was like, hey, man, I need you to come with a little bit more hotness.
07:04You got a little something else?
07:05You got anything else in that?
07:06I was like, I feel like a lot of quarterbacks, you know, show up and go about their day the
07:10same way every day.
07:11I feel like that's...
07:11That all you got?
07:12I feel like we need to come a little stronger than that.
07:14But, yes, I think he ultimately got to a point, which is quarterbacks that can go...
07:19Because no quarterback's perfect.
07:20They're all humans out there.
07:22We've seen, you know, have them have bad moments.
07:24But it's the ability to immediately reset, and not just reset, but I know that...
07:27Let it go.
07:28Hey, I mean, because let's...
07:29I got it in me.
07:30I'll throw Patrick Mahomes out here, right?
07:31Just in the abstract.
07:33Patrick Mahomes has a bad pass.
07:34You don't go, oh, we got him now.
07:36You go, whoo!
07:37Oh, boy, missed that one.
07:37All right, let's lock back in next time, right?
07:39Like, that's the nature of an elite quarterback.
07:41And if CJ Stroud is indeed getting back to that,
07:44I think that that's what's in the making for CJ Stroud.
07:48Rebound year.
07:49In fact, a vengeance year.
07:50Yeah.
07:50A vengeance tour that will make everybody...
07:52Get your popcorn ready, as he said.
07:53Yeah, Hutchinson did say, get your popcorn ready.
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