The next AFC heavyweight looking to take on the Chiefs’ crown? It’s the Houston Texans.

HOUSTON — As the Houston Texans opened training camp Thursday morning, it was hard to ignore the juxtaposition surrounding this NFL franchise.

Gray, ominous clouds hung over the team’s practice fields, threatening to add to a seemingly endless string of storms since Hurricane Beryl ripped through the city on July 8. A parking lot away, hundreds of utility trailers, trucks and electricians were gathering for another day of restoring service to the 2.2 million residents who lost power in the scorching July heat. That number included much of the Texans organization, from the training staff to the players to a host of team employees. Even the team’s home field was affected, with huge chunks of NRG Stadium’s roof ripped off by 90-mph winds.

As you can imagine, all of this has made power a big topic of conversation in this town right now — who has it, who lost it, and who is responsible for the mess left behind. And in the middle of it all, you have the Texans entering one of their most anticipated seasons in team history. Fielding a team that had the opposite of a power loss in the offseason, drawing an intense spotlight on a team with an embarrassment of juice.

Quarterback CJ Stroud is a candidate for preseason MVP. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik is all but guaranteed head coaching offers next season. And the Texans as a franchise? Well, if they’re not a Super Bowl underdog right now, they seem inevitable in the coming months.

That’s how good the Texans can be. They’re up to their necks in local and national hype — or “rat poison,” as head coach DeMeco Ryans once put it, borrowing colorful terminology from former Alabama head coach Nick Saban. But Ryans is right. Without a doubt, the early applause is there and hard to ignore. From appreciation for a management that has masterfully rebuilt and balanced the organization with young and veteran talent, to a coaching staff that’s sure to be plundered by other franchises, to a roster that should worry the rest of the AFC.

From a broader perspective, the conclusion is simple. Like the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals before them, Houston is a team that should worry the Kansas City Chiefs. If this were a heavyweight boxing circuit, the Texans would have the talent and momentum of a title contender. But the Texans don’t want to hear that.

“What do you expect of yourself? That’s what I asked our players yesterday,” Ryans said. “It’s not what people say from the outside that matters. It doesn’t change who you are. It’s who you think you are, what you think you can accomplish as a player. That’s the only thing that matters to me. Expectations are always driven from within. So if our players think highly of themselves, we’re going to go high. That’s how I want the players to think.”

“What’s being said outside the building? It has no impact on what we do,” Texans general manager Nick Caserio said. “Talk never wins a game. Expectations never win a game. Good football and good execution wins games. That’s what it’s going to come down to. The rest of it, honestly, is a huge waste of time for us to spend time on things that don’t matter or that we don’t control.”

It’s a predictable and familiar mantra from Caserio, who spent 20 years with the New England Patriots climbing the personnel ladder and refining his belief system. Not to mention the management and evaluation skills that became a vital necessity when Caserio found himself on the receiving end of a Deshaun Watson disaster that would have crippled most franchises for a decade or more. But Caserio and his management have not only weathered multiple storms within the organization, they’ve emerged with a trinity of individuals now defined as the cornerstones of anything bigger and better: Ryans as head coach, Stroud as quarterback and edge rusher Will Anderson Jr., who has already earned a reputation as the team’s “mini-DeMeco” — a nickname that speaks to the leadership and talent that made him a team captain as a rookie last season.

Of course, this trio isn’t alone. The roster is stacked with young talent that is rising faster than anyone could have anticipated. From Anderson, cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and safety Jalen Pitre on defense, to Stroud and wideouts Nico Collins and Tank Dell on offense. In between, the roster is bolstered by veteran groups that range from All-Pro talent to key rotational pieces. On offense, that depth of talent and leadership includes left tackle Laremy Tunsil, wideout Stefon Diggs, tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Joe Mixon. On defense, it’s edge rusher Danielle Hunter, defensive tackle Denico Autry and safety Jimmie Ward. And more additions aren’t out of the question, either. The Texans still have enough cap space — more than $15 million — to polish the roster with a few veteran additions late in the season. And make no mistake, they are searching.

The biggest problem the Texans face may be figuring out how to maximize the talent on offense and feed everyone. Collins, Diggs and Dell could all be 1,000-yard receivers if given the targets. Mixon still has the talent to be a 1,000-yard running back on three downs. And despite modest numbers in 2023, Schultz still has the ability to be a top-10 tight end in the league. And more than anything, it puts Stroud in the MVP pipeline if he avoids injuries. If they’re all healthy and the offensive line lives up to its talent, one of two things seems likely: Either the Texans are going to have a record-setting offense in 2024, or the skill position players are going to have to get used to sharing their opportunities. Maybe both, with Diggs being the piece that helps push the playbook.

As Stroud said, “Stef is somebody who can really open up your playbook. But we have all these guys around us. He’ll say that, too. So, he’s a five-headed monster. It’s really cool to just have a bunch of options.”

What all that talent means, how it plays out in 2024, is the journey that began Thursday. Improving on a 10-win season that no one expected. Reshaping the AFC’s competitive structure in a way that makes the AFC South a powerhouse again. By meeting the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 and showing that Stroud can go anywhere Josh Allen has gone … and then some. Then building a schedule that pits the Texans against the Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens in Weeks 16 and 17, which should be a defining moment on the road to the Super Bowl.

That’s what it means for Houston to get some juice back. Enough to grab the spotlight and draw the eyes of Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the rest of the Chiefs. Like it or not, the Texans are cementing their place among the AFC and Kansas City’s heavyweight contenders.