The Houston Texans used the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to select Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud.
There has been some speculation that Texans owner Cal McNair forced the team to pick Stroud because of Houston’s struggles at quarterback in 2022.
That’s not the case, McNair insisted earlier today at the Texans’ 20th annual charity golf event.
“[My wife] Hannah and I don’t make the picks. We’ll make it clear there,” McNair said, via ESPN.com. “We have a great group of scouts led by Nick [Caserio] and James Lippert, and they did a lot of work on the draft board, and then they followed that on draft day, and they moved up when they saw the value was there and moved back.”
After picking Stroud, the Texans immediately traded up from No. 12 to No. 3 to pick Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson.
In doing so, they secured two of the top prospects in the entire draft, but further fueled rumors that Anderson might have been the player the team’s front office wanted all along before McNair intervened.
Whatever the case, Stroud immediately becomes Houston’s franchise quarterback, though it remains to be seen if he’ll begin the season as the starter or will work behind 2021 third-rounder Davis Mills.