The Houston Texans didn’t draft C.J. Stroud No. 2 overall back in April to keep him on the bench.
But in order for the former Ohio State star to be able to function as a starting quarterback in the NFL, he has to master his team’s playbook first.
Fortunately, it sounds like Stroud is well on his way to doing that. This weekend, he was asked about the Houston offense, and Stroud made it clear he’s been working hard to learn as much as he can.
“I fell in love with it,” Stroud said about the Texans’ offense. “It’s a different style from what I played in in college but there’s a lot of similarities as well. It’s a lot of timing-based.
“A lot of late nights studying, early-morning studying trying to get to know [the playbook] like the back of my hand.”
CJ Stroud on the similarities and difference from the offense he had at Ohio State and the offense he’s in with the Texans. pic.twitter.com/9qpRtmVXJd
— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) July 30, 2023
All of this seems encouraging for Texans fans, who really need Stroud to pan out as a franchise quarterback.
There were some concerns during the draft process when Stroud’s reportedly low Wonderlic score leaked, but the two-time Big Ten Quarterback of the Year never wavered in his belief in himself.
“I’m not a test taker. I play football,” Stroud told reporters at the time. “At the end of the day, I don’t got nothing to prove to nobody. I’m not going to sit here and explain how I process overall. The people who are making the picks know what I can do.”
It looks like he’s off to a good start.