The Houston Texans quarterback is one of the best programs in NFL history, which is no surprise to him. “No, it wasn’t,” Stroud told NFL.com at Saturday’s Pro Bowl practice when asked if his quick success came as a surprise to him.
The second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft didn’t surprise him, but he took the league by storm.
Stroud’s 273.9 yards per game led the NFL and became the first rookie quarterback to catch a touchdown (with at least 10 starts) since Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys in 2016.
He finished the season with 4,108 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions. The interceptions equate to a league-high 1.0 percent interception.
His passing yardage is the third most in NFL history as a rookie, and the 22-year-old is the youngest player to lead the league in TD:INT ratio (22:5).
Stroud, who became the fifth freshman to throw for 4,000 yards, was immediately tapped by offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.
Slowik returns to Houston despite a lot of attention being paid to the head coaching change, which bodes well for Stroud to continue on his legendary path. “Yeah, I’m excited.”
“Another year with a good coach,”
Stroud said of Slowik’s return.
“We have a lot of chemistry, “I’m very happy,”
Stroud said of the team’s success, “Really excited,” Stroud said about building on the team’s success.
“We’ve got a lot of good pieces coming back, probably add some pieces that we need. Lot of moving parts, but it should be fun.”
If the hype surrounding C.J. Stroud’s second season with the Houston Texans hadn’t reached new skyrocket heights, it surpassed that level by the fourth quarter of the Pro Bowl.
Stroud, who became the first rookie quarterback since Mac Jones to participate in the Pro Bowl, made headlines as the AFC’s top passer in a 64-59 loss to the NFC roster in the Pro Bowl games.
Stroud and the offense were stopped short on 4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line on a pass breakup by Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson with four seconds remaining.
The favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, Stroud was arguably the most impressive player Sunday at Camping World Stadium, where the AFC won the flag football game 50-34.
He threw for a game-high 173 yards and two touchdowns, including a highlight off-balanced touchdown pass to Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase during the second quarter.
Stroud threw one of the best passes in recent Pro Bowl history.
During the second quarter, the Texas rookie connected on fourth-and-goal with Chargers All-Pro receiver Keenan Allen, who stayed behind the line of scrimmage and waited for Evan Engram to break free in the back corner of the end zone and scored for a goal.
Allen finished the game with four tackles (three catches, one pass), including one by Stroud. “It was great to be around great players,” Stroud said.
Stroud, who has led Houston to seven wins, also made headlines Thursday night with his performance in the Precision Passing Skills Challenge.
Stroud defeated Tagovailoa and Minshew to reach the finals. There he battled Buccaneers star Baker Mayfield for the title. Mayfield led 9-8 before Stroud’s final throw, a 50-yard touchdown pass for 10 points.
“I have a lot of respect for Bake, I’ve watched him since college, but this is junior league, so I have to take over,”
Stroud said before the final game.
Anderson, who set the Texans’ new sack record, also participated in sideline drills during the commercial break. Anderson and Tunsil also participated in the challenge.
The 22-year-old already has a history of playing the role. Stroud played in his absence. This can prove to be a deterrent against bad passes at certain points in the quarterback game.
Stroud has shown over the past weeks — a Week 18 win over the Indianapolis Colts and a wild-card loss to the Cleveland Browns — that he’s not afraid to throw the ball every time.
However, Kelly said his skills on the hardwood have translated into his fourth game. Honestly, “I think it comes from playing basketball,” Kelly said. Stroud’s pregame warm-up routine has been evident this year. I’m thinking of Nico Collins’ 75-yard run on the opening drive against the Colts.
In 2023, he had 4,108 carries, Kelly said. “He had 23 yards and 23 touchdowns, and he ranked second in yards per attempt average (8.7 yards), helping the Texans win the first straight game since 2019.” Their first AFC South championship.
“He’s built for that, just how he’s been brought up by his family and the resources around him,”
Kelly said. Kelly has been with Stroud all season and provided advice after watching game tape.
Kelly said the repetition and consistency on fourth down has changed dramatically from the start of the season to now.
Stroud’s first professional start came in the season opener in Baltimore, a 24-9 loss to the Texans.
According to various reports, during the pre-draft process, Stroud’s S2 psychological test scores were low. Kelly said, “He turns the tape around.”
In high school, there was a day C.J. Stroud had no receivers to throw with. The future Houston Texans quarterback went to a field alone.
The teammates who couldn’t join him were replaced by visions in his head. The apparitions ran imaginary routes. Then Stroud threw the ball to the empty spaces. Stroud ran to the ball, picked it up and repeated the process.
“How many people in today’s world would do that?”
John Beck, a private quarterback coach who has worked with Stroud, told.
“The competitive nature on the field opens something up in Stroud,”
Beck said.
The coach, who has overseen the development of quarterbacks such as Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys, said he believes Stroud will do his best as a coach at Ohio State.
“When you needed him to do something, he did it,”
Beck said.
“Some people are scared or a little scared,”
Kelly said.
Stroud played a lot of football between his time as a Buckeye and his freshman year. But Kelly linked Stroud’s importance to running 3-on-3 in random gyms.
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