Thursday's joint practice between Houston and Detroit will be a final audition for many Texans trying to earn a spot on final roster.

C.J. Stroud is essential to the Houston Texans success, and weapons like veteran wide receiver Christian Kirk will help maximize him.

Every passing NFL training camp, there's bound to be a collection of surprises and risers to take the field among the early 90-man rosters that end up navigating up the depth chart totem pole, capture big roles, and shaking up the outlook of the team from what was initially expected by in the summer.

The Texans are expected to lose before the AFC Championship Game. The many USC Trojans on the Houston roster can change the conventional wisdom