PALM BEACH, Fla. – In a league ultimately driven by an elite arms race, no NFL team wants to have a glaring need at the most pivotal position on the field.
It’s a quarterback league, and the Texans are in the enviable situation of having a talented, legitimately effective passer.
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Imagine the Texans without the accuracy, poise and arm strength of quarterback C.J. Stroud. Under that scenario, it’s unlikely if not impossible that they would have won AFC South division titles and two combined playoff games over the past two seasons.
While a relatively stagnant offense and Stroud dipped significantly statistically last season one year after he was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year largely because of pass protection issues they’re addressing by overhauling the offensive line and making changes to the coaching staff and schemes, the Texans are confident that Stroud will take another leap in his development next season.
For a franchise with ambitions set on making a deep playoff run after losing in consecutive years in the AFC divisional round, Stroud represents a key figure in everything they’re working toward. Stroud is a year removed from being eligible for what’s shaping up to be a blockbuster contract extension. And the Texans would gladly reward Stroud as long as the team captain continues to make strides in his overall game. There’s a strong belief in Stroud in the locker room, from the coaching staff and at the top of the organization from ownership.
“He’s a great person, so he has all of our respect,” Texans principal owner Cal McNair said of Stroud during the NFL owners meetings at The Breakers Hotel. “I think we’ve seen his ability on the field is totally there to lead the team. We’ve seen it for two years now, and I think he’ll take another step this year. He’s a great leader and we’re looking for him to lead us where we’ve never gone before. We think he can do it.”
A former second overall pick, consensus All-American and Heisman Trophy finalist from Ohio State, Stroud, 23, has won a pair of AFC wild-card round playoff wins. He has completed 66.1 percent of his throws for a combined 976 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in the playoffs. In the regular season, Stroud has a 19-13 winning percentage with 63.5 percent accuracy, 7,835 yards, 43 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and a 93.7 passer rating.
Off the field, Stroud has been heavily involved in the community through his charitable foundation with his family, including his mother, Kimberly Stroud. He has forged a bond with his teammates and relationships throughout the building and in the city of Houston.
“He’s wonderful off the field,” said Hannah McNair, the vice president of the Texans’ charitable foundation. “He and our daughter have a special bond, and he’s just an incredible person.”
Caley, the new Texans offensive coordinator worked closely with prolific Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, a strong-armed gunslinger, as the tight ends coach and passing game coordinator under creative coach Sean McVay.
And the Texans fired offensive line coach Chris Strausser after Stroud was sacked a career-high 52 times during the regular season, the second-most in the league. Stroud was sacked eight times and hit 14 times overall in a playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The thinking is, if the play-calling is upgraded along with the play and blocking schemes of the offensive line, Stroud will go back on the high-level trajectory his career was on as a rookie.
Caley takes over an offense headlined by Stroud, who emulates Brady’s even-keeled approach and is an admirer of Stafford’s style of play.
Not everything about last season in terms of Stroud’s regression can be attributed entirely to Slowik’s lack of adjustments and how players lost confidence in him in the locker room, or the shortcomings of the offensive line. Stroud holds some accountability, too, for the issues that plagued the offense.
The Texans are strong believers in Stroud, and his work ethic. And Stroud plans to rededicate himself even more to improving this offseason. He has already been collaborating with Caley and having good conversations about the playbook and how to improve the offense.
“C.J. is a good player, he has to continue to improve,” Texans general manager Nick Caserio said at the NFL scouting combine. “There’s things that he’s going to work on in the offseason. But the offseason is an opportunity for every player to improve their individual performance and get themselves ready for the season in front of them. So, C.J.’s done a lot of great things on a yearly basis. His first year, he did a lot of really good things last year as well. I think sometimes, that kind of gets lost in the shuffle there a little bit. So, alright, what happened last season? What can we learn from it as a team? What can he learn from it individually?
“In the offseason, here are the things that I’m going to focus on to try to make myself a better football. You get better at football by working, practicing, playing football. So, that’s your job and responsibility, and that’s what we ask of all of our players. So, I think C.J.’s motivated this offseason to have a good offseason, prepare himself to try to be the best player he can be once the season starts.”
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How Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud ‘grew tremendously’ even in one of those ‘tough years’
One year after being named to the Pro Bowl and becoming the third quarterback in NFL history along with Brady and Joe Montana to lead the league in passing yards per contest and touchdown-to-interception ratio, Stroud’s production went down to 3,727 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. That was seven more interceptions than his rookie season when he passed for 23 touchdowns and five interceptions with 4,108 passing yards in one of the statistically best first seasons of any quarterback in NFL history.
Although there was a decline in overall efficiency and Stroud occasionally held the football too long or, worse, began anticipating hits and, at times, throwing off his back foot while backed up in the backfield due to an onslaught of big bodies coming at him full-force, he made adjustments to the situation as wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell were out for the season with knee injuries. Even within the struggles, Stroud took steps forward and displayed toughness and a competitive streak.
That was another reason why the Texans decided to draft Stroud.
“For me taking over this franchise, I know that every team that’s here, if you want to win games and have a run deep in the playoffs then you have to have a quarterback to do that,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans. “That was the main focus for us, so it’s easy in the evaluation process of getting C.J. and seeing his talent and seeing the type of guy that he was. Ultimate competitor, true leader, his teammates loved him.
“He cared about his teammates, and that’s what stuck out for me. Not only getting a quarterback, but getting a guy who the locker room can get behind. Guys that feel his passion and feel his love for the game. He is competitive, he has the leadership and drive to be great and that’s what led us to getting C.J., and C.J. has done an outstanding job for us the last two years.”
Caley can’t wait to start working with Stroud, whose statistics declined last season while playing under heavy duress as he was sacked the second-most in the NFL behind Chicago Bears rookie Caleb Williams.
The collaboration between Caley and Stroud will be a critical element of the Texans’ big-picture outlook.
“He can spin it, he throws the ball,” Caley said during his introductory press conference. “He’s an accurate thrower of the football. He is a natural thrower the football. He’s instinctive. He’s got the It factor. And he’s a warrior in terms of his competitiveness. I’ve admired him dating back to his college days. So I’m really, really excited to have an opportunity to work with him.”
The emphasis for the offseason heading into a pivotal season: protect Stroud and get the maximum out of a talented young quarterback as Caley puts his personal imprint on the offense.
“We all know C.J. is a really great quarterback,” Ryans said. “So, it’s just about developing that relationship with C.J. and also just putting C.J. and everyone else around C.J. in the best position possible for us to move the football down the field and score points.
“I think Nick is going to do a good job of that, building that rapport, relationship with C.J. And I think C.J. is already a great player, it’s just getting everybody on the same page. We’ve talked about that communication all eleven guys being on the same page, we do that and, instantly, C.J. will be better.”
Heading into his third season, Stroud undoubtedly has a lot of big things ahead of him as he tries to get the Texans to a Super Bowl.
Getting the best out of Stroud could be a difference-maker for a franchise that’s 0-6 in the AFC divisional round as the lone team in the conference to never reach the AFC championship game in the history of the team.
The chance to work with Stroud was a major selling point for Caley to accept the position after turning down opportunities in the past with the Patriots and the New York Jets.
“Really looking forward to working with C.J,” Caley said. “Tremendous talent, competitor, you talk about an ultimate competitor. Tough, instinctive and can make plays so I’m very excited. As a first-time coordinator, to answer the second part of your question, really excited to get the opportunity to evolve this scheme and it’s not going to be my spin.
“It’s going to be what’s best for our players. It’s always going to be what’s best for our players. We’re not pounding a square peg into a round hole. It’s going to be based on the strengths of our quarterback and the guys on this team. That is what it will always be designed around.”
Having a coach with Caley’s experience working in the creativity of the McVay system, an offshoot of the version of the West Coast offense first popularized by former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh and adopted by Mike Shanahan and Kyle Shanahan, is regarded around the league as a boost for the Texans’ outlook.
There will be familiarity for Stroud, who will speak the same language from a scheme standpoint as Caley. Caley is expected to put his own personal stamp on an offense in need of an overhaul and some new tweaks and wrinkles.
“He’s a special coach,” McVay said of Caley. “He’s done a great job for us. I love everything this guy is about.”
Source: Texans to interview Rams passing game coordinator-tight ends coach Nick Caley on Thursday
Caley was hired by Ryans with input from Caserio and other key members of the organization, including consulting with players like quarterback C.J. Stroud during the process. Stroud was sacked 52 times to rank second in the NFL as he passed for 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in a drop-off from his NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year numbers of 23 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The Texans’ offense regressed under Slowik, who struggled to make adjustments on the fly when his game plan wasn’t clicking, didn’t adapt the protection schemes to better protect Stroud, who was sacked eight times and hit 14 times overall in an AFC divisional round loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, and had lost the confidence of the locker room, including key offensive players as well as now-former colleagues on the coaching staff, according to league sources.
The Rams ranked 10th in passing offense last season as quarterback Matthew Stafford had 3,762 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
During joint practice session in training camp last August with the Rams, Stroud expressed his admiration for McVay and his offense.
“I am a super fan of his,” Stroud said. “The type of scheme he runs, the way he calls it, the way he uses guys in motion, and just a whole bunch of different things. He seems like a good guy and he just had some tips and pointers and also showed me a lot of love which I appreciated.
“I appreciate him more than he knows, just watching film and getting better from the stuff that he does in that offense along with Matt and those guys. It is definitely an honor just to know that he knows me, which is dope.”
Even in the setbacks, Stroud displayed signs of growth.
“I think we grew tremendously. I would say as a collective and personally,” Stroud said. “This year has had ups and downs, but I’m grateful for it all. It’s hard to learn on the mountaintop and in the wilderness. The valley is where you get your learning experiences. God is teaching you things at that time. This year has been one of those tough years. I learned more than ever that my rock is Jesus Christ. Whenever I hit rock bottom, I know I can lean on him.
“That’s what I’ve learned this year. To have another playoff win, there’s things to hold your head high for. I’m not going to hold my head down but, at the same time, it sucks to come out here and lose in the divisional round again. I’m super grateful for the tough and good times.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.]
