CJ Stroud has been with the Houston Texans for a month and the franchise has already seen some positive signs regarding their quarterback. As Stroud competes with Davis Mills for the quarterback job, Texas offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik is noticing a huge difference in Stroud’s prep since he was called up a month ago.
“It’s required that he reach out to learn more for me, so that’s happened a lot. But he wants to be in charge of what’s going on, as anyone who’s in that position should,” Slowik said Wednesday. “They want to feel comfortable in what they’re doing, which direction to go in, what answers they need to have for each piece, and each piece is a little bit different.
“For him, the ability to link things to other experiences that are the same is kind of what we grind through over and over again, and it’s really a lot, again, our offense and our defense as we do the details, branch out, and then at the end of the day we sort of point back to things that we already talked about and said hey this is the same as something else you’ve already done and that just helps them tighten up on specific .”
Stroud looking to take charge of the offense is an excellent sign for the Texans, who ranked him No. 2 as the franchise’s quarterback the organization hasn’t seen since the DeShaun Watson fiasco. Stroud is the beginning of the Texans rebuilding up after a few seasons where they were not competitive, the centerpiece of the franchise going back to becoming a winner.
A two-time Heisman Trophy finalist, Stroud had the most passing touchdowns in a two-year span in Big Ten history (85). Ohio State led the FBS in points per game (45.0) and yards per game (526.0) over the past two seasons. The Buckeyes averaged 44.4 points per game in Stroud’s starts as he became the fifth player in FBS history to have multiple 40 pass touchdown seasons.
Stroud, the first Big Ten quarterback to be listed in the top 10 since Kerry Collins in 1995, is looking to take the Texans to new heights. Slowik, who comes from the San Francisco 49ers organization (coach of quarterbacks), leans towards his former employer to develop his quarterback.
“It’s always a balancing act,” Slowik said. “Being able to push ideas off guys or have guys tell their experiences and what they’ve been through and what to look out for, which may or may not apply to the situation you’re going through, but it’s always beneficial when you have people around you who have been through it.”