The impact of one man is truly remarkable. 

One man took a poor offense and give it a complete face lift. One man. One man gave a city infinite hope. And in the process, one man cleared away a black cloud that clung to a franchise like a disease and became the ray of light in which his fans could follow through the darkness. 

The Houston Texans are that team, and C.J. Stroud is that man.

This has been a historic campaign for Stroud and the Houston Texans. The rookie out of Ohio State finished the regular season with the third highest passer rating by a rookie in NFL history behind only Dak Prescott and Robert Griffin III. His 23 touchdowns were the fifth most by a rookie, as well, and he did so while missing two games. Stroud also finished with the third most yards by a rookie, trailing only Andrew Luck and Justin Herbert. Had he not gotten injured, it is very likely he would be the new record holder. 

It wasn't just an incredible season for Stroud from a rookie perspective, it was an incredible season- period. He finished eighth in the NFL in yards, sixth in passer rating, and led the NFL in touchdown-to-interception ratio. Stroud was also atop the NFL in completed air yards per completion, and second in intended air yards per attempt, meaning no one aired it out deep quite as well as he did in 2023. Stroud was far from a dink-and-dunk quarterback this season. He was letting it fly, and it was consistently working.

Stroud has been remarkable from an advanced metric standpoint, as well. He finished the year seventh in DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement). And in terms of quarterbacks with at least 200 pass attempts this season, Stroud was fourth in DVOA.

What makes it even more impressive is the cast of characters Stroud was doing this with. Nico Collins had a breakout year, but is he doing that without Stroud? Collins entered this season with his career high for receptions in a season being 37, which he put up last season. With Stroud at quarterback, he more than doubled that total and had 80 catches for just under 1,300 yards and eight touchdowns. Tank Dell was a mid-round rookie that had some questions about his size- he had 47 catches for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 games. Stroud is making everyone around him that much better, and it's evident when you watch the Texans play. His ball placement, his calculated aggressiveness, and his unwavering trust in his receivers to make plays has helped guide the Texans to where they are. And their journey isn't done. 

In their first playoff game in four years, Stroud tied the NFL rookie record with three touchdown passes while going 16-of-21 for 274 yards in the midst of a 45-14 blowout over the Cleveland Browns. With one more win, the Texans will appear in their first AFC Championship Game, and it will be the first time a Houston team has appeared in a conference championship game since the Oilers made it to the AFC Championship Game in 1979. All of this is in no small part due to the impeccable play of the Texans' calculated gunslinger whose arm they have rode all year.

None of this is meant to forget about the job that head coach DeMeco Ryans has done, or to put the great work of offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik into the background. However, it all starts at the quarterback position in the NFL, and Houston has one that is changing the course of their franchise in real time. 

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