Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud burst on the scene in his rookie campaign, winning the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award while leading Houston to an AFC South division title.
The next step for Stroud entering his second season in the NFL? It might be winning the league’s MVP award.
Seriously.
Oddsmakers have released MVP odds for the 2024 season, and FanDuel Sportsbook has put Stroud at No. 4 in the odds, behind only Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. All of those quarterbacks are in the AFC, so if Stroud can lead his team to more success in 2024, he has a legit shot to win the league’s most prestigious award.
As a rookie, Stroud threw for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions across 15 games. Houston was 9-6 in the games he started in 2023.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft then showed it wasn’t a fluke, winning a playoff game against the Cleveland Browns as the No. 4 seed in the AFC.
For Texans fans, it seems like there is nowhere to go but up for Stroud, and if he does, oddsmakers seem to think he’ll be in the MVP conversation.
2024 NFL MVP odds
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Oddsmaker predict CJ Stroud will be leading MVP candidate in 2024 season
The fact that Stroud is just fourth in the odds to win MVP shows just how impressive his rookie season was.
Of the three quarterbacks ahead of Stroud, only Mahomes has actually won an MVP award, and we’ve seen players like Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Burrow make a second-year leap that thrusts them into the MVP conversation.
There will be more expectations for Stroud in 2024, as the Texans were not expected to go from worst to first in the 2023 campaign. Now, they are likely going to be favored to make the playoffs in 2024 given their success in Stroud’s rookie campaign.
Still, with Tank Dell, Nico Collins and the potential cap space to bring in another weapon on the outside, Houston could have one of the best offenses in the NFL next season. The team will need to protect Stroud better (the offensive line struggled in the divisional round against Baltimore) especially since he took 38 sacks as a rookie.
Still, Stroud led the NFL in yards per game last season and may have had a shot at a 5,000-yard season had he not missed two games because of a head injury.
If Vegas is buying Stroud already after one season, Texans fans should be excited for the future of their quarterback – and franchise.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.