Perhaps the most difficult job in all of sports is the quarterback position in American gridiron football, and Houston Texans signal-caller C.J. Stroud is in a particularly precarious situation as a rookie entering the 2023 season.
The Ohio State product will be tasked with lifting the fledgling Texans back to relevance after years of disappointment earned Houston the right to select him with the second-overall pick in April’s draft.
Daunting as this duty might be, veteran running back Devin Singletary saw serious potential in Stroud at the Texans’ minicamp back in June, making it clear to the media that the rookie passer is poised for success in his first season at the NFL level.
“Man, he’s bright. He’s a bright, young man,” Singletary told reporters on June 14. “He’s coming along well. It’s a lot as a young quarterback, coming in and learning a new offense – coming in here with grown men, coming from college and coming here with grown men… You’re looked at as a leader out the gate. But he’s handling it well. He’s a very humble guy and always comes in to work – definitely.”
Delivering Houston a winning season as a rookie will prove to necessitate a Herculean effort on Stroud’s part, but with the raw talent and support he possesses within the Texans organization, it seems that anything is possible.
Singletary’s faith in Stroud as a viable first-year signal caller is a good sign that the up-and-coming quarterback should be able to find his groove early in the 2023 campaign, even if he has to overcome adversity in his first games under center.
