Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has helped completely turn around the organization in just his rookie season. And a truly ridiculous stat has emerged about Stroud that puts him amongst some of the most elite quarterbacks in NFL history.
Halfway through the NFL season, Stroud is on pace to shatter the NFL rookie passing record held by former Indianapolis Colts star Andrew Luck.
It gets even more impressive than that, though. Not only is Stroud’s rookie season on pace to be the best of any rookie quarterback ever, it is also on pace to be one of the best seasons of any quarterback, period.
Stroud currently leads the NFL in passing yards per game and touchdown to interception ratio. Only three other quarterbacks in NFL history have led in these two categories through the first ten weeks of a season. Those quarterbacks are all no-doubt first-ballot Hall of Famers in Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Patrick Mahomes.
Only QBs to lead the NFL in pass yards per game and TD-INT ratio through the first 10 weeks of a season since the 1970 merger:
('23) C.J. Stroud
('19) Patrick Mahomes
('15) Tom Brady
('13) Peyton Manning pic.twitter.com/D8o5EsLgXh— ESPN BET (@ESPNBet) November 13, 2023
Simply put, there isn’t much better company for Stroud to be in at this point. And many fans believe that if Stroud continues his impressive play this season, he will one day be thought of as a generational player like the other three players on this list.
A rookie QB…. https://t.co/hmXCiwL2lI
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 13, 2023
Don’t get me wrong, I thought Stroud was going to be good… but this good during his rookie season is insanity. https://t.co/p6DXdBjr9u
— Nick Schwager (@NickSchwagerNFL) November 13, 2023
Any time you get mentioned among Mahomes, Brady, and Manning is incredible. To do it as a rookie…? https://t.co/PSA6mldxJE
— Anand Nanduri (@NanduriNFL) November 13, 2023
https://twitter.com/GeorgeTsilfidis/status/1724210350931714343
Pretty good company! https://t.co/hgPH2fXFr2
— The GOAT House (@GoatHouseNFL) November 13, 2023
Crazy, with no elite weapons either https://t.co/XGyXDsHADa
— Khalil Zaabri (@KhalilZaabri) November 13, 2023
It’s even more impressive that Stroud is performing this well considering he doesn’t exactly have a truly elite receiving option on his team.
Young Texans receivers like Nico Collins and Tank Dell are certainly promising players. But before the start of the season, you would be hard-pressed to find many who considered them even top-25 wide receivers in the league.
Stroud and the Texans will look to keep their positive momentum rolling in Week 11, where they will face off against the Arizona Cardinals.
