Through his first 36 career NFL games, Houston Texans wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson had yet to score a regular season touchdown. Given Hutchinson's stature as a 6th round draft pick, it's not necessarily a huge shock. Frankly, it's not even a guarantee that a 6th round pick will even make 36 appearances in their NFL career, so in some respect, Hutchinson's career had already been a success.
However, this past Sunday, as the Houston Texans were pouring it on against the short-handed Baltimore Ravens, Hutchinson was able to find the end zone not once, but twice.
"I kind of blacked out a little bit. I had to do my little dance I’ve been preparing for three years now, and it just felt good," Hutchinson said after the win. “I was super nervous. I knew I was wide open, and it’s always the ones when you’re wide open that you’re a little nervous [about]. But once I caught the ball, it was kind of over with."
Fortunately, although a black-out is certainly a sign consistent with a head injury, a near black-out wasn't enough to send Hutchinson to the blue medical tent or send him to concussion protocol.
“It felt good, man. I was joking around with the guys earlier this week that it felt like, you know, me and the end zone were allergic to each other," Hutchinson added. "So, to get it today, it felt great. It’s all glory to these guys in the locker room, who just keep the confidence in our teammates."
Texans Passing Attack Succeeding With Commitee Approach
With Tank Dell out for likely the entire season due to a gruesome injury suffered late last year and Stefon Diggs having a tremendous amount of success in New England, there was a void in the Houston Texans receiving room heading into the season, and Hutchinson, along with veteran Christian Kirk, and rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, were expected to find a way to fill it.
Although nobody has stepped into that true #2 role just yet, so long as Nico Collins continues to ascend and the offensive line manages to keep CJ Stroud upright, this group of Texans pass-catchers may have the goods to get the Texans passing attack in a decent place.
Player | Receptions | Receiving Yards | Receiving Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|
Nico Collins | 22 | 316 | 3 |
Dalton Schultz | 21 | 186 | 0 |
Xavier Hutchinson | 12 | 110 | 2 |
Christian Kirk | 10 | 109 | 0 |
Jayden Higgins | 9 | 121 | 1 |
Jaylin Noel | 5 | 22 | 1 |
Based on the way that Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans spoke about Xavier Hutchinson after the win, it sounds like the 3rd-year pass-catcher may soon earn himself a larger role in the passing attack.
“‘He is the guy who has shown what hard work looks like," Ryans said. "You don’t get a lot of credit. He’s getting better in the background. A lot of people don’t see it, but Hutch is one of the hardest working guys on our team."
Sunday was proof that Xavier Hutchinson's hard work is paying off.