Is Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud on the downfall, or was the 2024 NFL season a sophomore slump?
A year after putting up record-setting numbers while leading the Texans back to the postseason for the first time in four years, Stroud struggled to regain that spark. Yes, Houston won the AFC South and a playoff game, but the defense was DeMeco Ryans’ backbone for most of the year.
Stroud, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023, underwhelmed en route to a 10-7 regular season finish. He threw for 3,727 yards and 20 touchdowns against 12 interceptions while completing 63.2 percent of his passes for a rating of 87.
Houston fired offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and replaced him with Los Angeles Rams tight end coach Nick Caley. Coming from the Sean McVay coaching tree, surely that should change the narrative around the former No. 2 overall pick entering Year 3, right?
Not entirely.
Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr recently pondered the question of whether Stroud was the problem for Houston’s uninspiring offense. Now with a new play-caller, he expects more issues to unravel.
“The Texans will not see C.J. Stroud improve upon his rookie season numbers in 2025, despite the transition to Nick Caley as offensive coordinator,” Orr wrote. “We’re seeing a lot of the blame placed on Bobby Slowik for an inability to push the needle offensively. But now that the Texans have a new coordinator, we may finally be able to parse out the blame properly.”
Not all blame could be put on Stroud’s shoulders. While he did double his turnover total from 2023, the two-time Heisman finalist was also the second-most sacked quarterback last season, taking 52 hits in 16 games.
Then again, multiple throws and errant mistakes were made by Stroud. Several passes fell behind a receiver, thus leading to interceptions. His performance against the Detroit Lions might be one of the worst of his career after Houston blew a 17-point lead in the final 20 minutes.
Stroud didn’t impress in 2024. It’s a fair statement. It’s also fair to state blame goes around more than just the passer and the play-caller. Injuries to the wide receiver and tight end room also limited concepts and targets for Stroud to build a rapport with entering the postseason.
Caley will spend the offseason catching Stroud up to speed on what he expects for the offense to run smoothly. Perhaps Stroud won’t become among the leauge’s elite passers before the end of the 2025 season, but a stable top-10 name at the position is on the table.
Of course, so is more regression.