Houston Texans dynamo C.J. Stroud ran away with the NFL Offensive Rookie of The Year award last season, leading a charge to the AFC Divisional round after being chosen No. 2 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. However, as his sophomore season looms, the pressure could be mounting in more ways than one.
It is one thing to take the league by storm, it’s another when a loaded AFC South division has sights set on Stroud and the Texans, for a second-year quarterback to not only live up to his stellar performance as a rookie but surpass it the following season.
After all, Stroud passed for 4,108 yards with 23 touchdowns to five interceptions while posting a stellar 63.9 completion percentage in 15 games.
The Texans building one of the game’s premier receiving corps around Stroud by adding Stefon Diggs in an offseason blockbuster trade to pair with Nico Collins and Tank Dell should only hasten the young quarterback’s development.
However, there might be another type of pressure Stroud and the Texans must heed in 2024.
Will Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud Be Able to Overcome Pressure?
Benjamin Solak put together a list of concerns facing the top second-year quarterbacks ahead of the 2024 NFL season, and Stroud’s ability to exploit the blitz raised a red flag for the ESPN NFL analyst.
“Stroud was pretty seriously affected by both pass-rush pressure and the blitz last season,” Solak points out. “It makes sense. As a pocket passer with a downfield mentality, he was both hesitant to check the ball down and less effective on the move than he was from the pocket. One of the knocks on Stroud when he was coming out of college was his lack of creativity and second-reaction plays, and while he was better in that area than many expected, it’s still the weaker side of his game.
“Another way of reading this, of course, is that if the Texans keep Stroud clean, he is going to conquer the world. Stroud was pressured on 32% of his dropbacks last season, an above-average rate. The injury bug bit the Texans’ offensive line more than almost any other position group in football, as only guard Shaq Mason played more than 81% of the snaps on the season and 10 offensive linemen played at least 20% of the snaps. That level of shuffling creates communication issues and surrenders easy pressures.”
As ESPN points out, Stroud’s Explosive Play Rate dropped from 20.8 percent when unpressured to 10.5 percent against the blitz, while his adjusted yards per attempt dipped from 9.6 to 2.8, among other concerns with how he’ll handle pressure in 2024.
That the Texans upgraded the backfield by signing Joe Mixon should alleviate some of the pressure on Stroud and the ability for defenses to bring relentless heat. But, if Stroud proves he’s more well-adjusted to the blitz packages deployed by NFL defensive coordinators this upcoming season, it’s easy to see the Texans taking a big step forward.
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