Xavier Hutchinson News: Two catches in loss

Hutchinson caught two of two targets for 30 yards and ran the ball once for another five yards in Sunday's 14-9 loss to the Rams.

Hutchinson benefitted from the absences of Christian Kirk (hamstring) and Braxton Berrios (hamstring) and played 43 offensive snaps (68 percent). That was second most on the club behind Nico Collins (53) and more than the two wideouts selected in the second and third rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft -- Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. It's hard to take anything definitive away from the season opener, when Houston's offense and quarterback C.J. Stroud were not operating at peak efficiency. So, good for Hutchinson that he was on the field often, but there were times in 2024 when he was given starter-level snaps, but it rarely panned out to be fantasy gold.