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CJ Stroud year 2

DBCooper said:
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I’ve never played a game boy or whatever the **** this is. What does this mean, lol.
 
www.houstonchronicle.com

Revisiting hilariously wrong hot takes from Bill Simmons, Colin Cowherd about C.J. Stroud

Bill Simmons said he didn't trust a quarterback with initials for a name and Colin Cowherd said C.J. Stroud was most likely bust of the draft's top quarterbacks
www.houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com

Revisiting bad hot takes from Bill Simmons, Colin Cowherd about Texans' rookie QB C.J. Stroud

Now that C.J. Stroud is about halfway through his first season and is the runaway favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year, all the experts on TV and radio are raving about the Texans quarterback.

Of course, not everyone previously had been on the same page when it came to evaluating Stroud.

“I’m locking in Stroud as a bust,” Simmons said on his podcast on April 26. “Just from levitating above this, which is being unencumbered with my thoughts and baggage of things, I’m just like, 'This guy doesn’t have it.' His name is C.J., he went to Ohio State. There’s rumors that he’s a dick. C.J.’s your quarterback? I just don’t see it. How many great initial quarterbacks have we had? Can you name me the great two-letter initial quarterbacks? I immediately go to E.J. Manuel and A.J. Feeley. It’s just, I don’t see it. I don’t like that he dropped. He was in that 1-2 range, and now it’s like where is he gonna go? Why is he dropping? Everybody’s getting under the hood and they don’t like what they see. He feels a little busty to me.”

“I think (Stroud’s) fine. I don’t see the wow in him,” Cowherd said in an April episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “I think he’s talented and depending on where he lands, he could be successful. But I’ve said before, I think Bryce Young from Alabama is much more polished, could walk into the NFL and play right now.”

“If you told me today on Tuesday, Aug. 8, I had to pick one that would miss, I would probably pick C.J. Stroud from all the things I’ve heard in camp,” Cowherd said. “… Rookie defensive head coach, rookie offensive coordinator, weird owner, below average roster. He’s not talented enough to overcome that.”

On Monday’s podcast, Simmons also joked about how bad his pre-draft take was on Stroud.

“It’s hard for me to believe we spend this much time on the draft and people didn’t think … we were like, ‘He might be a bust. Ohio State,' … We cannot figure out the draft,” Simmons said. “Shouldn’t we be better than this?”

“C.J. Stroud? Man, he drops, sees the field, releases quickly to the perfect spot,” Cowherd said on his show on Oct. 18. “I think you can spot good very early. I also think don’t rush to spot and call something a miss. I don’t think Bryce Young, we can make a call yet. He looks small, we worried about that. Anthony Richardson, keeps getting hurt. I worry about that. But I don’t think it’s crazy to acknowledge that C.J. Stroud, big, mobile enough and super accurate. He looks like a hit.”
 
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Lucky said:
I don't want to become the boy that cries wolf, but 17 rushing attempts is a poor idea. The Chiefs are consistently 20th or below in rushing attempts throughout Mahomes career in KC. And this is despite the Chiefs usually playing with the lead. Mahomes is getting hit way to often because of it. Only 12 sacks, but he has been hit an additional 35 times while passing and has made 42 rushes.

Yes, Stroud has not been hit that often (18 sacks + 21 hits + 20 rushing attempts). Stroud's pocket time is a ridiculous 2.0 seconds. But the Texans still need to slow the pass rush down. And the best way to do that is to try to run the football. Not a popular suggestion (Stroud won't like it). However, a necessary one. Because with no reason to honor the run, teams will just send free rushers every play until they knock C.J. out of the game.
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On the face of it I agree, but one thing I'll say is that the quick action passing game is *essentially* the run game.

It keeps Stroud away from danger and essentially acts as run game without actually factually being the run game.

In other words there's more than one way to skin a cat (why anyone would want to do that I have no idea).
 
So our friend J.T. O'Sullivan also known as The QB School did his week 9 Stroud breakdown but made it a Patreon exclusive

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721951901468483806

And I'll be honest I took the bait and signed up for $7.50

The CJ breakdown is almost 2 hours long, (1:57:10) and well worth the $7.50, he goes more in depth scheme wise while also breaking down a lot of the running plays as well. I played football when I was younger but I'm learning more in his videos than I did playing under some of my coaches for years.
 
Sweech said:
So our friend J.T. O'Sullivan also known as The QB School did his week 9 Stroud breakdown but made it a Patreon exclusive

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721951901468483806

And I'll be honest I took the bait and signed up for $7.50

The CJ breakdown is almost 2 hours long, (1:57:10) and well worth the $7.50, he goes more in depth scheme wise while also breaking down a lot of the running plays as well. I played football when I was younger but I'm learning more in his videos than I did playing under some of my coaches for years.
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Dammit. I was wondering where that was.

:(

That's some damned good marketing. Offer something for free every week for awhile and then put it behind a paywall to make the addicts come to you.
 
Sweech said:
So our friend J.T. O'Sullivan also known as The QB School did his week 9 Stroud breakdown but made it a Patreon exclusive

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721951901468483806

And I'll be honest I took the bait and signed up for $7.50

The CJ breakdown is almost 2 hours long, (1:57:10) and well worth the $7.50, he goes more in depth scheme wise while also breaking down a lot of the running plays as well. I played football when I was younger but I'm learning more in his videos than I did playing under some of my coaches for years.
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Oh that’s why I haven’t seen his breakdown. I’ve went to his YouTube channel all day on yesterday and today. And nothing.
 
Sweech said:
So our friend J.T. O'Sullivan also known as The QB School did his week 9 Stroud breakdown but made it a Patreon exclusive

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721951901468483806

And I'll be honest I took the bait and signed up for $7.50

The CJ breakdown is almost 2 hours long, (1:57:10) and well worth the $7.50, he goes more in depth scheme wise while also breaking down a lot of the running plays as well. I played football when I was younger but I'm learning more in his videos than I did playing under some of my coaches for years.
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I took the bait and signed up, too. But it only cost me $5. I need my fix. Haven't seen anyone break things down better than him.
 
Sweech said:
On the face of it I agree, but one thing I'll say is that the quick action passing game is *essentially* the run game.

It keeps Stroud away from danger and essentially acts as run game without actually factually being the run game.

In other words there's more than one way to skin a cat (why anyone would want to do that I have no idea).
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I get what you're saying, but there's nothing like having an actual good running game to help this specific offensive scheme.

We've seen it in action when Arian Foster was here. Play action was perfect with Schaub, and that only works if the defense respects the run.

Having a solid run game forces the defense to load the box, drop safeties, and play more man, which a guy like CJ would slice through.
 
Double Barrel said:
I get what you're saying, but there's nothing like having an actual good running game to help this specific offensive scheme.

We've seen it in action when Arian Foster was here. Play action was perfect with Schaub, and that only works if the defense respects the run.

Having a solid run game forces the defense to load the box, drop safeties, and play more man, which a guy like CJ would slice through.
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T.O.P. is helped by a good run game as well. It helps "control" the game. I doubt Tampa would have scored 37 points if we had a good run game & not got into a shoot out.
 
Double Barrel said:
I get what you're saying, but there's nothing like having an actual good running game to help this specific offensive scheme.

We've seen it in action when Arian Foster was here. Play action was perfect with Schaub, and that only works if the defense respects the run.

Having a solid run game forces the defense to load the box, drop safeties, and play more man, which a guy like CJ would slice through.
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I agree but it's going to be a delicate balance. Some of those things are theoretical, but there's certain things that have been simply true which are certain formations that we've been very good with, bunch sets for example and we need to be able to run out of the sets CJ is strong in or else you're tipping your hand as to what you're doing.

Overall CJ is the one we want to have the ball the majority of the time as he's obviously already the team's best player. However we can functionally keep defenders guessing and keeping him upright is paramount.

We threw the ball a lot against Tampa and managed to keep Stroud upright through a very large chunk of that. However that is done isn't a bother to me so long as it's done.
 
Sweech said:
We threw the ball a lot against Tampa and managed to keep Stroud upright through a very large chunk of that. However that is done isn't a bother to me so long as it's done.
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The sacks were early in the game, right? When they were trying to pretend to run the ball. In the 2nd half, he got his rhythm, they backed off the blitz & he got into the zone.

So basically, when he started throwing a lot is when he was in the least danger of getting hit.
 
I am sure that this has been referenced somewhere in this thread but I feel like it should be restated. Something that was on film from his college days - but even more refined coming to Houston - Stroud's decision to throw from ball release time. His trigger is LIGHTNING quick - one of the fastest releases I can remember watching in a long time. I am going to try and include 4 short clips of top tier quarterbacks - and look at how Stroud stacks up. Brady was known for his quick trigger and processing ability - and Stroud has shown that in spades thus far.

Brady -
Marino -
Rodgers -
P. Manning -

Our Guy C.J. Stroud 7 -


When playing at the NFL Level, and then an elite level at the NFL level, a quarterback has to fit the ball into tight windows with accuracy, but more importantly, timing. Timing can be on script or off script, but the time it takes for the ball to get to where CJ wants it, from his initial decision is absolutely insane. He was good at OSU, but he never showed me that he was THIS good at OSU. This is one of the most beautiful and satisfying aspects of his game, and something that can be worked on, but its so very hard to improve on. That Stroud is doing this Year 1 / Game 9 is bananas. Enjoy him gentlemen, we have a good one.
 
thunderkyss said:
Makes you wonder about them batted balls in Carolina.
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I think Carolina was keying on the short throws and instructed their line to get their hands up instead of attacking the QB. The thought there is that if hes going short / middle of field and you know you won't get home in time, put your hands into the throwing lanes. I also believe this was part of Stroud's frustration and voicing such after the Panthers loss. It wasn't just that the shots weren't there, its that the defense was literally keying every aspect of their gameplan around stopping our short passing game. You will notice that defensive lineman will not want to jump / get their hands up when the QB is driving the ball down the field. It is wasted motion for the defense, and drains a good amount of energy to leap into the air for nothing.
 
JWLCASPER said:
The thought there is that if hes going short / middle of field and you know you won't get home in time, put your hands into the throwing lanes.
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How would they know he was throwing a short pass if Cj hadn't made that decision... are you saying they somehow knew Cj was going to opt for the short pass every time they batted a ball?

Even then, if the time from decision to ball out is so fast, I don't see how they can get their hands up in time.
 
He’s a guy that thrives on passing the ball downfield. He has Peyton Manning syndrome in that it’s hard for him to be patient taking the underneath stuff. He wants chunk yardage. That’s what he was used to at Ohio State.

you look at the games he’s struggled in a bit, it’s been b/c he’s been forced to check it down. Him running around with the ball behind the LOS when we all wish he would just throw it away…..he’s looking for that big chunk yardage play.

Slowik at times has hamstrung him under the guise of protecting him by calling those dink and dunk pass plays and overcommitting to the run. at other times it’s been the defense forcing him to. & he has to learn to be a bit patient.

But what I think we saw last week was Slowik trusting him and letting him deal. I hope like hell he has finally earned Slowik’s trust and he cuts him loose permanently. You got a certified dog under center, let him eat.
 
Part of it was Bowles inexplicably & uncharacteristically stopped blitzing him. Boomer Esiason sorta talked about this in the CBS post game wrap up. I mean It’s 1 thing to be fearful of getting beat over the top…they had lost Dean earlier in that game…..but Bowles went full turtle..and CJ took full advantage of that.

I’m not sure how Anarumo approaches CJ this week…but I’m pretty positive he’ll blitz him more than Bowles did in the 2nd half of the TB game.
 
thunderkyss said:
How would they know he was throwing a short pass if Cj hadn't made that decision... are you saying they somehow knew Cj was going to opt for the short pass every time they batted a ball?

Even then, if the time from decision to ball out is so fast, I don't see how they can get their hands up in time.
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If I’m not mistaken only 1 of his passes batted down was from a DL. The others were by that LB Luvve. And they just followed his eyes I’m sure. And understanding of the coverages would let those guys not worry about getting beat deep.
 
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Mr teX said:
Part of it was Bowles inexplicably & uncharacteristically stopped blitzing him. Boomer Esiason sorta talked about this in the CBS post game wrap up. I mean It’s 1 thing to be fearful of getting beat over the top…they had lost Dean earlier in that game…..but Bowles went full turtle..and CJ took full advantage of that.

I’m not sure how Anarumo approaches CJ this week…but I’m pretty positive he’ll blitz him more than Bowles did in the 2nd half of the TB game.
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I hope he blitzes him. CJ Stroud this year has a ridiculous 116.2 passer rating when blitzed. Last game he had a passer rating of 133 when blitzed. So far this year blitzing Stroud has been the best way to get picked apart. From what I remember most of the success against him has come by rushing 3 and dropping 8.
 
Khelar said:
I hope he blitzes him. CJ Stroud this year has a ridiculous 116.2 passer rating when blitzed. Last game he had a passer rating of 133 when blitzed. So far this year blitzing Stroud has been the best way to get picked apart. From what I remember most of the success against him has come by rushing 3 and dropping 8.
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which is more Anarumo’s style anyway if I can recall how he has been successful in defending against Mahomes in recent years. But Sam Hubbard is supposedly injured too so I don’t know how that might effect his gameplan.
 
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