The Houston Texans are sitting pretty. C.J. Stroud had a solid game against the Chicago Bears, going 22-36 for 260 yards, and a touchdown. Not a bad night for the Texans' second-year quarterback. With the way that Stroud has played, not just on Sunday night but across his young career, you'd almost be forgiven for not realizing he's not the number one overall pick in his draft class.
No, the top pick from his class was that of Bryce Young, the former Heisman Trophy Winner out of Oklahoma. Since getting drafted by the Carolina Panthers, Young has been the exact antithesis of Stroud. While Stroud is accurate, produces touchdowns, and makes his team better, Young misses wide, throws interceptions at an alarming rate, and may be holding his team back.
So much so, that Young was benched on Monday after starting the season 0-2.
It's fair to wonder if the Panthers are this bad, where a top pick in Young can't even make them better. Yet, we'd like to remind you that the Texans had the same perception when Stroud came here. Even before the likes of Joe Mixon or Stefon Diggs arrived in Houston, Stroud had elevated the talent roster around him.
It's what good quarterbacks do. Now, the Panthers may have drafted a good young player who's struggling in a bad offense. They may have taken a bad quarterback who's struggling in a good offense. Now one of our very own is wondering if the Panthers are benching Stroud with the idea that his backup, Andy Dalton, may be able to help the Panthers finish with a better record, thus hurting their draft position.
A position that will be owed to the Bears. It's a solid theory, but an unlikely one considering the Panthers only owe the Bears a second-round pick.
The trade the Panthers made was a terrible one. Especially considering they gave up D.J. Moore to make it happen, as well as the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. That pick, by the way, would become Caleb Williams.
For the Texans, the benching solidifies the Texans' pick of Stroud. Some have already called Young a Ryan Leaf-like bust, and we would be hard-pressed to argue against that idea. After all, the Panthers could've had Stroud, and then the Texans would've had Young and that's a terrifying thought.
While DeMeco Ryans is a good coach, I don't subscribe to the belief that the Panthers are so terrible that they'd eat any good quarterback whole. I think if Stroud was in Carolina, the Panthers would be immensely better. They would be where the Texans are currently.
So it's fair to say that the benching of Young fortifies the pick of Stroud even further. It's unlikely that Stroud will ever be mentioned in the same breath of Stroud again, at least in a positive manner. So we're thankful that the Panthers took Young off the board, forcing the Texans into Stroud. Who knows what would've happened if the Texans had the first overall pick in 2023?
Would they have taken Young? Would Stroud have been the first overall pick? It's hard to say but thankfully we don't have to worry about that.