The Houston Texans selected quarterback C.J. Stroud second overall in the 2023 NFL draft with the hope that he could pilot their offense and their franchise to new heights after three abysmal seasons. On Thursday night, Stroud had his first opportunity to represent the Liberty White after holding off Davis Mills in a training camp quarterback competition.
The debut wasn’t quite what Houston fans had dreamed of.
Stroud finished his evening after two drives completing only 2-of-4 passes for 13 yards. His first drive ended in an unfortunate interception to Patriots cornerback Jalen Mills after staring down Tank Dell for longer than he could afford. It was a classic “welcome to the NFL moment” that Stroud will surely learn from moving forward.
Beyond the interception, what can be made of Stroud’s debut?
The athleticism is real
One of the biggest storylines around Stroud in the pre-draft process was his ability to run. Was he the star athlete that dominated in the College Football Playoff against Georgia or the passer that had been relatively held to the pocket during his career at Ohio State? If he was that great athlete, would he be willing to employ his athleticism more at the NFL level?
Stroud showed well in that regard against New England.
He used his athleticism to extend plays and avoid sacks while under constant pressure against the Patriots. It was a skillset that appeared more than feasible to run any kind of play that offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik dreams up this season.
Offensive line will make evaluation difficult
Houston was missing over $50M in APY of starting offensive lineman against New England between tackles Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard and starting right guard Shaq Mason. The resulting offensive line struggled to allow Stroud to run the offense efficiently.
Stroud was sacked once over his two drives and he was lucky to avoid another with the use of his legs.
It will be difficult to fully evaluate Stroud with the line group that was present Thursday night. Expect some reps with Tunsil and Mason prior to the start of the regular season to allow Stroud to gain and allow the coaching staff to fully see what they can expect from their rookie quarterback in the regular season.
Sample size wasn't much
Stroud threw only four passes the entire game. It was a game where he was treated like a veteran starter and pulled after just two drives. The showing ultimately didn’t allow for many real takeaways for fans and they’ll have to watch how the coaching staff responds to even see how they felt about it.
The performance isn’t worth overreacting around and certainly isn’t indicative of the larger story that Stroud has left to write with the Texans. The upcoming games against the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints will likely give Houston fans a better idea of what to expect from their signal caller in the season.
