Texans' C.J. Stroud is making veterans talk about him like he's Patrick Mahomes
It's easy to see now why the Houston Texans were okay with being the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They were able to stay put and still get the best player in the entire draft. C.J. Stroud has been that, and if the MVP discussion carried over into the postseason, he would […]
It's easy to see now why the Houston Texans were okay with being the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They were able to stay put and still get the best player in the entire draft. C.J. Stroud has been that, and if the MVP discussion carried over into the postseason, he would be a candidate.
Drafting a franchise quarterback is the most important thing in any professional sport. This is the guy who will play the hardest position in the league, and if he's good enough and marketable enough, he could change the way your entire franchise is looked at.
Look at the Kansas City Chiefs, for example. They were a team that still made the playoffs before Patrick Mahomes with Alex Smith, but they weren't really ever getting to that contending level. The Chiefs were a franchise that was not looked at anywhere near the way they are looked at now. Sure, a Super Bowl or two certainly helps, but who is the main guy holding up the trophy on the stage?
In a way, those two are already being compared to one another. Well, more so, Stroud is being compared to Mahomes – not in the way the two play, but in the way the two are talked about.
When Mahomes first burst onto the scene in 2018, he wasn't a rookie, but it was his first full-time year as a starter. Mahomes took the league by storm, and everyone was talking about these crazy plays he was making, whether it be the off-platform throws, the no-look passes, or even the scrambles for first downs when you think he wouldn't be able to.
Go back and watch the 2018-19 NFL Top 100 video of Mahomes coming in at No. 4. NFL players around the league were raving over his ability and saying some of the funniest things about the crazy plays he makes. Matt Judon talked about the no-look pass in a way that was hilarious.
Now, NFL players are doing that with Stroud. Now Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin and EJ Speed are doing that, and it's one of the funniest things ever.
Players are really mad at the moment when guys like Stroud and Mahomes make these demoralizing plays that they make. But after that, they look back and are so in awe that they can't help but laugh because these are truly insane things these players are doing.
Maybe, just maybe, Stroud can garner the respect Mahomes has by winning some hardware of his own. I mean, if he beats Baltimore on Sunday, there's no telling what could happen after. He has already made NFL history a few times. Texans fans should feel the same way about Stroud that Chiefs fans feel about Mahomes.
Texans’ C.J. Stroud makes NFL history in playoff win vs. Browns
The Houston Texans have one of the greatest rookie QBs ever.
