C.J. Stroud had a bit of a sophomore slump for the Texans in 2024, despite their success. Do you still believe in Stroud the same as after his rookie season? The Drive discusses that here.
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00:00Alright, this is my fault, fellas. Last year, when they finished the season against Baltimore,
00:09coming into the offseason as well, there was, I think, great confidence in Houston that
00:19C.J. Stroud was the dude.
00:21The arrows pointed up.
00:22You know, like, hey, you look at it, you gotta have a quarterback to really win big in this
00:26league, and it's hard if you don't.
00:28And at that point, I think everybody in the organization, all fans thought, yes, the Texans
00:35have one.
00:37The Texans have one that can compete with anybody at the top, and especially in this
00:41conference, you gotta have one.
00:43And there was great confidence.
00:44To hell with everybody that was brought in, but there was great confidence at the start
00:48of the season.
00:49We watched him go toe-to-toe against Joe Burrow.
00:52We got a dude.
00:53Like, this year, he can go toe-to-toe with Lamar.
00:56He can go toe-to-toe with Mahomes, I believe.
00:58Hell, there were some of you telling me he was better than Josh Allen, Patrick Creighton,
01:03before the season started.
01:04Like, there was great belief that you had a dude.
01:10You still believe that right now?
01:13713-572-4610, YouTube and Twitch, now that this season is over, and now you're going
01:21into next season, do you still believe that the Houston Texans have one of those dudes
01:27at quarterback right now?
01:28Do you still have that same belief like you had last year?
01:31I do.
01:32I do.
01:33I believe they've got a guy.
01:34I believe they've got the dude that they can win a Super Bowl with.
01:37I believe they've got a dude that they can be a pass-first football team and win a Super
01:43Bowl with.
01:44I believe they've got a dude at a high level that he can win from the pocket often enough
01:52to win a Super Bowl.
01:54Yes, I do believe that they've got a dude.
01:57Right now.
01:58Like, right now.
01:59Not growing into it.
02:00Right now, they've got a dude that can go and compete and play toe-to-toe with these
02:07other quarterbacks they have to play with.
02:09I still believe in CJ Shroud, yes.
02:14The only part of CJ Shroud, I think it's less of a flipped on it and more about, hey,
02:21we just know a little bit more about the guy.
02:25I really question CJ's level of alpha.
02:29I really question CJ's level of leadership.
02:31That has shifted from last year?
02:33No, that's what I'm saying.
02:34I don't know that it's shifted as much of we've just seen a larger sample size and now
02:38we know more.
02:39I don't know that anybody was ever walking around going, boy, this guy is just the absolute
02:43I mean, alpha.
02:44This dude is just the, you know, he's the end-all be-all.
02:50I think it's, to me, it's obvious right now that you've got to, when you make moves this
02:55year on the offensive side of the football, whether we're talking about offensive coordinator
02:58or we're talking about either guard or whatever you do with Laramie Tunsil, you've got, you
03:03absolutely have to bring in more guys that are like Joe Mixon and far fewer guys that
03:11are like Dalton Schultz and Laramie Tunsil.
03:13I love Joe Mixon.
03:17Even Nico, you have got to bring in at least one guy, if not two guys, that are absolute
03:26alphas.
03:27I mean, we'll get in your ass, we'll set the standard, we'll change the game offensively
03:34and set the bar offensively on a daily basis.
03:38They've got to find that guy.
03:40I'll only say that to illustrate, I just don't think CJ's that guy.
03:45I don't think CJ's the hold guys accountable, get in that ass type of guy.
03:51Now you're saying you don't have to be that to be a dude, right?
03:54No, yeah, you don't have to be.
03:56Look, I don't know.
03:57I don't know if Joe is.
03:58Burrow, I don't know.
03:59Well, I mean, yeah, you're right, because I don't know that Drew Brees was.
04:02I don't know that Aaron Rodgers ever had the, he would do it, but I don't know that he ever
04:05had the ability.
04:06I was going to say, no, Aaron would.
04:08He would do it, but I just wonder how much of the team would actually respond to it.
04:15I played with one, Troy Aikman was no-nonsense, getting that ass, didn't matter who you were.
04:20I mean, you guys are-
04:21Seems like he's continued.
04:22Yeah, yeah.
04:23He didn't have a problem doing that.
04:26I think you look, Brady obviously didn't have a problem doing that.
04:31Peyton Manning, I don't think had a problem doing that.
04:33Now Peyton also didn't need an offensive coordinator.
04:35He was the most cerebral quarterback I've ever seen play the game.
04:38And so that obviously allowed him to do and say some things and lead from a little different
04:44angle.
04:45But yeah, I think that the only question, I still think CJ Stroud is that dude.
04:50I still think CJ Stroud can win a Superbowl here in Houston.
04:54I still think he's the franchise guy.
04:56My only question is more of, from a leadership perspective, where's his ceiling?
05:03That's the part.
05:04And I want to get to Tyler Kresenstam more than anybody that I know at the station.
05:11So I do want to get to him and I'm seeing some people here.
05:14Again, last year, right, I think there was almost 100% belief and confidence that you
05:22got one of the dudes.
05:23He was the top five quarterback.
05:24Rookie of the year.
05:25Like there was 100-
05:26What Jaden Daniels is being talked about right now is what CJ was being talked about last
05:31year.
05:32And it ain't just like, oh man, we see the growth in it.
05:35It's next year.
05:36We think he can, hell, Greg Jennings had him as the MVP this year, coming into the year.
05:43Do you still have that level of confidence that he is one of the dudes?
05:47And I'm seeing some people on the text line roll through, preach Clint.
05:52I don't know a good quarterback can improve players around them and he didn't.
05:58An average scared quarterback.
06:01Yes.
06:03They have a dude because that dude just learned that he can now run out of the pocket instead
06:08of just standing in the pocket.
06:11Someone texted CJ cries too much to be an alpha.
06:15Someone said he's more Phillip Rivers.
06:17Not a popular take, but I think it's a very, very fair.
06:21Can I, and before we get to Tyler, I'll give my thought.
06:25Can I say I have shifted from, yeah, they got to do too.
06:30I think so.
06:34I think so.
06:35I'm not as confident that they got a dude as I was at the end of last season.
06:43Like some of the leadership stuff, it was for the damn man.
06:48I just, I didn't anticipate him falling apart at times with some of the adversity that hit.
06:57And I mean like some of the on-field adversity, like it, it did.
07:01It did to me seem that the protection, which was a problem, a major problem and hindered
07:06him from being able to be completely who he wanted to be.
07:10But I was a bit surprised that it's, it seemed to at times as the year went on, just knocked
07:15down his performance to where it affected him even when there weren't protection problems.
07:21So it just, I still think he is, he is a guy and I still think he's a franchise quarterback.
07:27It's just, it moved from a feeling of definite to, I think, I think so.
07:33I think he is, he is a dude.
07:36I think he is somebody that of the coming years will be able to compete with Joe Burrow
07:41and Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen and Mahomes.
07:45I think he will be in that mix, right?
07:48Um, and, and, and that's just a bit of the shift.
07:51All right, Tyler, you, you, as I said, represent the fan thought.
07:55Are you as, are you as confident right now that CJ is the dude?
08:00I would say short answer is yes.
08:03And I say that because when I'm, when I'm pondering this question, you've laid a here
08:09before us about CJ Stroud and I think back to that rookie year, we just laid out.
08:14It was amazing.
08:15Rookie of the year honors.
08:16One of the best, if not the best rookie year we've seen from a quarterback, maybe until
08:19Jayden Daniels this season.
08:22I try to remember that all of that just vastly superseded anything any of us imagined or
08:31could have expected from the rookie QB in Houston.
08:34Like I tried to remind myself of that constantly because he outperformed the expectations in
08:40such a way that it made this year feel all the much worse.
08:45You know, it wasn't good no matter what he did his rookie year this year.
08:48It, the offense was not good.
08:50CJ Stroud struggled.
08:51We all have eyeballs.
08:52We all saw that, but because of how freaking amazing last season was for Stroud, it makes
08:58it hurt that much more.
08:59It stings that much more.
09:00So I would say, yes, right now I feel relatively at the same level as far as confidence whenever
09:07it comes to CJ Stroud after two years.
09:09All right.
09:09And I see some people coming in from the text line.
09:12Clint, I agree.
09:13I agree with you.
09:15Give me CJ all day.
09:16They just need a few junkyard dogs.
09:21How someone texted Ron is trolling.
09:23He just wants people to talk bad about CJ.
09:26It's obvious he hates the Texans and the fans who believe in them.
09:31I guess the first thing I would say is your mama.
09:33And if she's no longer with us, I take that back.
09:36Um, in that case, your daddy, I'll just take it back.
09:40Um, and then also someone here on the text line, I don't feel as confident because of
09:47how things shifted with Deshaun Watson.
09:50I don't think that's fair.
09:52I mean, I'm not saying I don't think I'm not going to say I think that's fair, but, but,
09:57but, uh, I mean, hell you can't help what you, uh, what you, what you think.
10:01Um, yeah, listen, I mean, I, like I said, man, I think he's.
10:05I think it's not definite.
10:07It's just not as I am.
10:10Like I am shocked by the step back in the season and even just the stuff that he controls.
10:17I am shocked of that.
10:19Some of it was out of control.
10:21I mean, it is, I don't care how good you are or how good the previous year was.
10:26It is ridiculously difficult to play the position at a high level for 18 straight weeks.
10:33In any way, you slice it when things are perfect around you.
10:36And the reality of it is the more we.
10:41You know, the more we learn about what was going on in that building, whether it's, it's
10:46the reported, you know, uh, friction between Bobby Sloak and CJ Stroud, or it's the inability
10:54of this offensive line to protect him, or it's the injuries at the old line or the injuries
11:00at the, at the wide receiver position.
11:02You know, any way you slice it, that not we've seen guys continue to play well through those
11:09types of hard times, no doubt about it, but that is significantly more difficult to deal
11:15with than, you know, the teams that have most of their pieces, the offensive play callers,
11:24one of the best in the game.
11:26And they're working on situational football, start to finish, been in the same offense
11:30for six, seven years.
11:32Um, this was a rough patch for, for CJ Stroud, no doubt about it, but I, but I still think
11:38from a talent perspective, from a processing perspective, I think he's a dude you can win
11:42a Superbowl with.
11:43And, and he's a dude that I think you can win a Superbowl.
11:47That's a good, that's a good point.
11:48Not just riding in the passenger seat.
11:50Someone texts in CJ neat.
11:52CJ just needs to mature.
11:54He was a little, a little bit too full of himself going into the season and he got his
11:59reality check this year.
12:01You buy into any of that?
12:02Absolutely.
12:03You do?
12:04Absolutely.
12:04We, I mean, we, we talked about it.
12:06It's not, not just CJ, but yes.
12:08Yeah.
12:08I mean, I, I think, you know, CJ is out here on podcast talking, talking trash to people
12:12in the division like that, like that's quick ass.
12:14Cowboys.
12:15You didn't love that.
12:16No, I hate it.
12:17I hate it.
12:18I mean, I absolutely hate it.
12:20And, and, um, you know, I wonder if he'll be out doing those things this weekend.
12:24I mean, this, uh, this week coming, there's already been some word.
12:26My man said he, uh, he, he declined the pro bowl invitation to, to put his head down and
12:31get to work.
12:32Well, I mean, okay.
12:33But then, then that's, that's, I guess clearly maybe he felt like maybe he needs to change.
12:38Regardless of what, I mean, he, he's got to live his life and do his thing.
12:41So it's, it's not on his radar, but, but as you, as you look at just that, that reality
12:48is all of a sudden things got real.
12:51Your OCS fired.
12:52You're trying to find a guy guy's got injured.
12:54You didn't have as good a year.
12:55Are you going to be on radio road, talking trash to the Colts again this year in the
12:59super bowl?
13:01You know, are you, are you, are you, or, or is it put my nose down?
13:04It's time to grind.
13:05Well, it was time to grind last year as well.
13:07Right.
13:07We've, we've heard reports coming out or not reports, but we heard Joe mixing talking about,
13:11you know, maybe early in the season, it was more about stats.
13:13You got receivers talking about wanting, you know, so many touchdowns and wanting 1100
13:18yards and this and that, like the way you had that rookie year, the way you had the
13:242023 year was coach has to do.
13:28Now, all of a sudden, you got a bunch of guys that have goals and they've got, they want
13:31to talk about it.
13:31I want to voice them and they got stats.
13:33They want to reach and they're, they're talking trash on radio row.
13:36Well, see if that continues after a rough season.
13:41We'll see.