When the Houston Texans selected former Ohio State Buckeyes star quarterback C.J. Stroud with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, they undoubtedly hoped that he would be ready to start for the team to open the season. And it seems like he’s well on his way to that goal.
This week, Houston Texans quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson said that C.J. Stroud is “already way, way ahead of pace” in terms of his footwork and timing as he takes most of the first-team rep, and head coach DeMeco Ryans echoed that, claiming that “the sky is the limit” for the young quarterback.
“C.J. is progressing well,” Ryans said this week according to Brooks Kubena of the Houston Chronicle. “Each day, he continues to get better, continues to get more comfortable with the verbiage of the offense and his command of the huddle. I thought this week he has been really good, coming off of a long weekend. It was very eye-opening how on it he was. . . . He did an awesome job in our situational periods, So, he is definitely progressing in the right direction, and the sky is the limit for him.”
Stroud has even impressed some coaches on the defensive side of the ball as Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke has seen how hard Stroud works to learn and improve.
“His deliberateness and intent to try to get better — he’s literally grabbing everybody he can on the field,” Burke said. “So, he’s been very sort of intentional about learning and just learning defense, too, like what did you call there, what was that coverage, or what did you do here. I respect that from him.”
It sounds like he’s off to a great start to his career.
