In this week’s Football 301, I took a look at two quarterbacks: one an NFL signal-caller playing as well as anybody at the position right now, the other a college passer rising on my prospect ranks with a tasty ranked matchup ahead this weekend.
I’m not about to use 2,000-plus words to say that C.J. Stroud, the former No. 2 overall NFL Draft selection and reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, is good at playing quarterback. First off, he is good at playing quarterback. So there. But I more so wanted to paint a picture of what Stroud is not only accomplishing right now, but what he is overcoming for the Houston Texans, especially on plays without the ball in his hands. And he is excelling even more than the statistics and wins are indicating.
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Every week, hell nearly every drive, Stroud has throws that rank among the most impressive plays in the league. Here he is navigating pressure in the pocket and stepping into an incoming Bills defensive tackle, yet despite throwing side arm with his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage, still gets the throw off in the rhythm of the play design and still puts the ball right on Stefon Diggs’ facemask.
The Texans’ offense, much like the end of his rookie season, is Stroud navigating iffy pockets and ripping off chunk plays with his arm. Nearly all of those plays are from inside the pocket and well within the original design of the concept. He’s a true pocket passer solving defensive looks with his eyes, arm and mind.
Since Week 1, when Joe Mixon was last fully healthy and the Texans’ run game roared, the Texans have been atrocious running the ball. No matter how you parse the numbers, the Texans have had the worst run game in the NFL over the past month. Their success rate on running back runs is 23%, last in the NFL over that time (league average was 41.6% from Weeks 2-5). That 23% would rank among the five worst running games for an offense since 2012 (this…
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Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-10 13:00:37
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