Teammate shares great story about how Texans' C.J. Stroud leads

Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud guided the Houston Texans to a 30-27 win at the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. He not only improved the team to 5-4, he also added his name to Most Valuable Player conversations. 

Texans rookie wide receiver Tank Dell spoke with Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio shortly after Sunday's victory and explained how Stroud reaches out to teammates throughout midweek preparations. 

"He just puts that extra time and his preparation is amazing," Dell said about Stroud. "He’d just sent us videos all throughout the night. It’s like eleven at night, almost midnight, and he’s still sending us clips of how their defense is playing and telling us how we should adjust and things like that. I’d say it’s preparation, but then his swagger, he has that confidence about himself that he can be one of the best in the league. So, I’d say all that mixed in with each other." 

Stroud was named a team captain before Week 1, and it was later learned that the first-year pro paid for flights and hotel rooms to spend time with offensive skill players following springtime workouts. According to ESPN stats, he entered Monday night ranked 10th in the NFL among qualified players with a 63.2 adjusted QBR, sixth with a 101.0 passer rating, tied for ninth with 15 passing touchdowns and second with 2,626 passing yards. He tossed only two interceptions across Houston's first nine games. 

"He makes everybody prepare well and you have to when you have a quarterback preparing well, and he has the biggest responsibility," Dell added about Stroud. "You’re going to want to go out there and prepare well each and every week, for sure."

Oddschecker showed on Monday afternoon that Stroud may already be the undisputed Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he's also become a legitimate candidate to earn at least some Offensive Player of the Year votes. As for the second-place Texans, they next host the 2-8 Arizona Cardinals this coming Sunday.