C.J. Stroud is focused on winning the starting quarterback job.
However, the rest of the football world believes the No. 2 overall pick will beat out Davis Mills and Case Keenum for the job and lead the Houston Texans offense in 2023.
According to Chris Trapasso from CBS Sports, Stroud ranks as his third-best candidate for offensive rookie of the year.
Stroud will make plenty of wow throws as a rookie. There’ll be some times when we all wished he was a touch more dynamic gliding away from oncoming defenders. Finally, the Texans appear to be moving in the right direction after two years of total stagnancy, yet the receiver group is far from menacing. Stroud will elevate those around him often but not frequently enough to garner major OROY consideration.
The two players ahead of Stroud were Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson and Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young.
Justin Herbert was the last quarterback to win the award in 2020. The Los Angeles Chargers went 7-9, and Herbert threw 31 touchdown passes.
The previous year saw Kyler Murray take home the award, and the Arizona Cardinals went 5-10-1 — a 2.5-game improvement from the previous year. Yet Murray threw 20 touchdown passes, added another four rushing, and tallied 544 rushing yards to bolster the notion that he was a field general who could beat teams in the air and on the ground.
Since 2010, just four running backs have won rookie of the year. Robinson would need to have an abundance of touchdowns and the material fortunes of the Falcons to change to win.
With the attention surrounding Young, the Panthers winning games may be enough to convince voters that he is the reason.
Stroud would need to approach 30 touchdowns and also have the Texans have at least a four-game winning streak somewhere on the schedule to shift the focus in order to make a compelling case for rookie of the year.
