Plenty of the Houston Texans' ceiling in the 2024 NFL season is riding on the leap second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud is going to end up making.
The Ohio State product was every bit phenomenal during his rookie campaign, taking a bad Texans squad from the year before to ten wins and a playoff victory in his inaugural NFL season. Now, the Houston quarterback is receiving some MVP buzz and has expectations to contend for a Super Bowl with his squad.
While the regular season remains a couple of weeks away, the Texans have been able to get a pulse of Stroud's development throughout training camp and preseason play.
Houston offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik details the improvements he's seen from Stroud ahead of the regular season.
“I would say the most noticeable thing for us is that it really takes little conversation now if there is a mistake that he could have done better," Slowik explained.
For Stroud, being a leader in the most important position on the team is crucial. Being able to be sound and aware is a great way to lead by example, and Stroud improving upon his own mistakes does just that while accelerating his development.
On the field, though, Stroud's pocket presence is improving, as Slowik explained.
"He has gotten to the point where he is reacting to pockets but then you want to move as little as you need to. Last year we were talking about that all the time," Slowik continued. "his year there is very little conversation and when we do have to have conversations he already knows. A lot of it at this point is how do we become firmer? How do we make sure we are better against this pressure? How do we help the right guard? How can we be better in our drop? It is very subtle and which direction we are going just to help the o-line (offensive line)? It might be a little leaky, but we can still operate. So, there is a lot finer detail when we get into it but in larger it comes up a lot less often.”
Heading into his second season in the NFL, Stroud isn't only expected to be a star, but an MVP candidate. He's got plenty of pop to his game, which allows him to shine on the gridiron. However, acquiring more of a veteran mentality is going to take the Texans superstar even further in the league.
