HOUSTON — Halfway through his rookie season, quarterback C.J. Stroud has completely transformed the Houston Texans.
The Texans (4-4) still have work to do, but with four wins they’ve already surpassed their total from last season with nine games remaining.
The second overall pick in the draft set the NFL record for most yards passing by a rookie Sunday by throwing for 470 yards and five touchdowns. His game-winning drive in the last minute against the Buccaneers capped a 39-37 win and was one of the most thrilling victories in franchise history.
“Dude is special man and you’ve seen that from Day 1,” receiver Nico Collins said. “Since he’s stepped foot in here, he’s had that ‘it’ factor with him and it’s showing every week. Every single day he’s just itching to get better.”
Entering Monday, Stroud ranks seventh in the NFL and first among rookies with 2,270 yards passing. He has thrown 14 touchdown passes with just one interception.
ESPN's Adam Schefter posted to X Monday morning exactly how impressive Stroud's performance against Tampa Bay was. Aside from setting a new rookie record in passing yards, Stroud also made more NFL history with his passer rating. He is the sixth player in NFL history to pass for more than 450 yards and five touchdowns without an interception.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said Monday that Stroud's key Sunday was his accuracy.
"That was the one thing that stood out with C.J. [Stroud]," Ryans said. "You see the passes that Tank [Dell] caught, but just being able to slow the film down and pause it and see the precision of where those throws were – it’s just unreal to see how precise he was. The accuracy [and] ball placement being exactly where it needed to be, it’s very impressive.”
His development is a revelation for a team that hasn’t had consistent quarterback play since Deshaun Watson sat out the 2021 season after requesting a trade before being dealt to the Browns last year.
Stroud is encouraged by his work so far, but has much bigger goals for this season than simply leading a .500 team.
“I don’t think we can be stopped when we’re on our ‘A’ game,” Stroud said. “It’s a big-time win for us, and November and December is when you want to be playing your best ball. So, now we just want to … trailblaze into the playoffs, and, hopefully, get a chance to win the division and everything like that.”
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STROUD THOUGHT OF FATHER ON RECORD-SETTING DAY
Stroud had much bigger things on his mind than football after a record-setting performance in Houston’s win over Tampa Bay on Sunday.
When asked about setting the NFL record, he instead took the moment to talk about what he’s going through off the field.
His father Coleridge Bernard Stroud, III, remains incarcerated after receiving a 38-years-to-life sentence in 2016 after pleading guilty to charges of carjacking, kidnapping and robbery in a drug-related incident.
“What I’ve been battling with is trying to still be a family man, still help out, and still be a football player and do my job,” the quarterback said. “It’s been tough.”
During his successful first season, he’s relied heavily on a strong support system consisting of his mother and siblings, his teammates, friends back home and his dad — even though the man he was named for may never get to see his son play in person.
“I got to talk to my dad a little bit this week,” he said. “And I’m praying to God that something can happen that he can get out and come to one of these games. I’ve been praying for him a lot.”
His father has been in prison since Stroud was in middle school and is currently serving time at Folsom State Prison near Sacramento.
He said he wasn’t sure he wanted to speak publicly about the situation Sunday but was moved to support his father and others in prison.
“Our criminal justice system isn’t right, and it’s something that I need to probably be a little more vocal about, because what he’s going through is not right,” he said. “He called me this week, and we got to talk, and I’m praying for the situation and a reform, and the people with reform are helping me a little bit. But, I think just letting it be known that it’s not just my dad’s situation, but the whole criminal justice system is corrupt.”
While his first concern is for his father, he added that he was upset by videos he has seen of squalid conditions at prisons in Mississippi.
“Some of the prisons there have rats, roaches and things like that,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong — criminals, they should do their time, but they’re still humans, know what I mean? I just want to shine a light on that really quick.”
Stroud then moved on to talk of X’s and O’s, routes and defensive coverages and his stellar play. But all those things took a backseat to what really mattered to the 22-year-old on Sunday.
WHAT’S WORKING
While Stroud is Houston’s biggest rookie star, several other first-year players have helped improve the team this season.
Defensive end Will Anderson, whom the Texans moved up to select at No. 3, has started each game. The former Alabama standout has 30 tackles, including three for losses, two sacks and nine quarterback hits.
Receiver Tank Dell, a third-round pick from the University of Houston, ranks second on the team with 454 yards receiving. He had 114 yards receiving with two touchdowns Sunday to give him four TD receptions, which ties him for second most by a rookie receiver in franchise history.
The Texans have also gotten solid play from linebacker Henry To’o To’o, a fifth-round pick from Alabama. He has appeared in each game with six starts and has 53 tackles and a fumble recovery.
And perhaps almost as important as Stroud’s emergence, is the work of first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans. A former linebacker on the team, Ryans became Houston’s fourth coach in as many seasons after spending the past two years as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator. Players rave about the leadership of the 39-year-old Ryans, who has brought stability to a job that has been a revolving door in recent years.
He believes he’s helped transform the team's culture and was impressed with how the players responded to adversity Sunday.
“Everything that could have possibly gone wrong for us, it went wrong,” he said. “But it didn’t matter because of the mindset of our locker room. Guys who are going to fight for each other, guys who believe in each other, and guys who are going to hold each other accountable, and that’s what good culture is.”
WHAT NEEDS HELP
While Stroud has Houston’s passing game ranked fourth in the NFL, the running game has failed to get going and ranks 27th by averaging just 87 yards a game.
The Texans managed 53 yards rushing Sunday, which was their second-worst ground performance of the season.
Dameon Pierce leads the team with 327 yards rushing, but has struggled after running for 939 yards as a rookie. He missed Sunday’s game with an ankle injury and Houston’s leading rusher was Devin Singletary, who managed 26 yards on 13 carries.
STOCK UP
RB Dare Ogunbowale. The reserve running back, who has been inactive for five games this season, stepped in as the team’s emergency kicker in the second half Sunday with Kaʻimi Fairbairn out with a quadriceps injury. He made a 29-yard field goal that gave Houston a 33-30 lead in the fourth quarter to become the first non-kicker or punter to make a field goal in the NFL since Wes Welker did it in 2004.
STOCK DOWN
Singletary failed to do anything on the ground Sunday in his first start of the season when he averaged just 2 yards a carry. The former Buffalo player has done little to help the Texans this season with 62 attempts for 209 yards.
INJURIES
Ryans didn’t have an update on any of the team’s many injured players Monday, but the Texans could have to sign a kicker this week if Fairbairn remains out. … Other players injured Sunday included S M.J. Stewart (shoulder), DT Hassan Ridgeway (ankle), LB Jake Hansen (hand), WR John Metchie (ribs) and S Jimmie Ward (hamstring).
KEY NUMBER
470. Along with setting a rookie record with 470 yards passing Sunday, Stroud’s performance was a franchise record for most yards passing in a regulation game. Matt Schaub has the two highest passing days in Texans’ history with 527 and 497 yards, but both of those came in overtime wins.
NEXT STEPS
Stroud and the Texans hope to build on their big win over Tampa Bay when they face a tough road test at Cincinnati on Sunday.
“I think it’s something that can get us rolling,” Stroud said. “Momentum is everything in this league and in the game of football. We’ve got to ride this momentum and work really hard in practice this week.”