This is a brand new era for the Houston Texans franchise. While not a perfect new era, the in-fighting among ownership, and past statements will loom large for a long time, it is a new and better era than what the Texans had to deal with previously. The team has been rid of Deshaun Watson for two seasons now, and in that span, has drafted quarterback C.J. Stroud and returned to the playoffs under a new head coach, the new rookie quarterback, and has seemingly built a new core of future superstars.
The new era is off to a good start, and Stroud is a major reason why. His development and performances over his rookie year have reset the standard for what to expect from a rookie quarterback. Not only that, but Stroud has started the long road of transformation with the Texans. The franchise has long been defined by disgraced former quarterback Deshaun Watson. He holds just about every major accolade or record in Texans' history and the franchise easily has to acknowledge him as the best they've ever had at that position.
And while Stroud has a long way to go to completely overtake Watson as the franchise's best quarterback, he's already started erasing a small portion of Watson's legacy, and he did that in the best way possible.
When the Texans beat the Cleveland Browns, ironically the team that the Texans sent Watson to, Stroud tied Watson in one of the few categories that matter; playoff wins.
Despite being nearly 30 and having some of the best offensive players around him during his time in Houston, Watson only has one playoff win to his name. Stroud, in his literal first year in the NFL, already has as many playoff wins as Watson. A mark that Strorud's impact is more substantial and impressive than Watson's.
This is hopefully only the first of many marks that Stroud will take from Watson, and we can't wait to see it unfold.