The Houston Texans have a stellar young quarterback in C.J. Stroud. The dynamic rookie quarterback has taken over a lot of the league's current discourse, with many people declaring him the "greatest rookie quarterback ever", the front runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and even a darkhorse MVP candidate.
And Stroud deserves the roses that are being thrown his way. He's the best rookie quarterback the Texans have ever seen, and he (hopefully) can only get better from here. When it comes to his ceiling, it's truly unknown, because he could get so much better. He could also stay here, or get worse. We can't see the future.
No one can, and making big, bold, dumb claims is the quickest way to not only overhype this young phenom but also ruin one's reputation. So no, we're not saying anything outrageous like he's the league MVP, or that he's the greatest rookie of all time. We will say that he's the front-runner for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award because he is. But we won't get dumb with our claims. We're not Skip Bayless.
.@RealSkipBayless likens C.J. Stroud to Patrick Mahomes after the Texans win vs. Bengals 👀 pic.twitter.com/sfPJf8QMA2
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) November 13, 2023
Following the Texans' big win over the Cincinnati Bengals a couple of weeks back, Skip Bayless of Fox Sports 1 fame, made a huge claim that Stroud was throwing the ball at the highest level possible, on par with Patrick Mahomes.
Just one problem with that, Stroud isn't completing passes near the level of Mahomes. He's only completing about 62% of his passes, far less frequent than Mahomes' 67%. Putting the two men in the same conversation is foolish, especially if you're actually watching the tape.
Granted, Mahomes isn't having the type of outrageous season that many have come to expect from the two-time league MVP but it's clear to anyone that Mahomes is still a better quarterback and is still making bigger thorws more consistently than Stroud.
Stroud has taken advantage of a lot of blown coverage, but he isn't playing at the level of Mahomes and he shouldn't be. Stroud is a rookie. He has so much to learn. And so much that can only be learned by doing.
He's going to be great, but can we stop with these overblown, outlandish takes about the kid? He's a good, dare I say, great rookie. But he's played in 10 games, let's lay off the hyperbolic takes.