Why C.J. Stroud’s early training camp results offer the Houston Texans hope

Investing in a signal caller with a premium draft selection immediately raises the bar for how their career should go. From the moment you hear your name called, you are the franchise savior, the unheralded hero who makes his way to a struggling franchise and immediately rights the ship. Your respective NFL franchise hopes that you can live up to these lofty expectations.

Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud was bestowed this honor from the moment his name was called with the second overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. Stroud certainly has had his flashes of brilliance throughout his first NFL offseason and offered the Texans a great deal of hope that he could soon emerge as the guy. On yesterday’s rendition of SportsCenter, ESPN’s Houston Texans reporter D.J. Bien-Aime indicated that this trend has continued in training camp thus far along with the expected rookie hurdles. 

“Through a week of training camp practices, C.J. Stroud is in a dead heat battle with Davis Mills in their quarterback competition, but C.J. Stroud looks like the guy that you would take number two overall,” Bien-Aime said. “We see the arm talent. He can push the ball down the field, he can make any throw that you ask him to make. You also see the athleticism. There’s been a plethora of times where he’s gotten out of the pocket and been able to create and make the plays but you also see the Anthony Richardson [Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson]. There’s been times where he’s been fooled and thrown an interception. There’s also times where he doesn’t trust what he sees and holds the ball but it’s all part of the process.”

With Stroud already emerging as a solid leadership presence off the field, his developments on it have been a welcomed sight as Texans training camp roars on. A continued uphill trajectory could very well see the young signal caller behind center come Week 1.

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