True and this is why this off-season Caserio needs to find a bellcow RB and add an OL, TE or two in FA, Draft. With this said, CJ still needs to play at his rookie year level and he's far short of this right now.
There are teams that win a Super Bowl without a really good QB - but not most of the time. 2025 - Hurts 2024 - Mahomes 2023 - Mahomes 2022 - Stafford 2021 - Brady 2020- Mahomes 2019 - Brady 2018 - Foles 2017 - Brady 2016 - Peyton Manning 2015 - Brady 2014 - Wilson 2013 - Flacco 2012 - Eli Manning 2011 - Rodgers 2010 - Brees 2009 - Rothlisberger 2008 - Eli Manning 2007 - Peyton Manning 2006 - Rothlisberger 2005 - Brady 2004 - Brady These are the last 22 Super Bowl winners. 19 of the 22 Super Bowl winners had a QB that is or will be a Hall of Famer. To break it down further - 6 of the last 22 were won by the greatest player in NFL history (sorry Jerry Rice), another 3 were won by the best QB of this era (Mahomes), another 2 by Peyton Manning (top 5 all time QB), and another by Aaron Rodgers (top 5 all time QB). So, 12 of the last 22 Super Bowls have been won by top 5 all time QB's. Top 25 all time QB's like Brees (1), Stafford (1), Rothlisberger (2) and Wilson (1), won another 5. So - 17 of the last 22 Super Bowl teams have had an all time great QB. The Eagles have managed to win two Super Bowls without a great QB, and the Broncos won another one with a broken down Manning... Flacco was pretty good, but not a Hall of Famer....... so that is like 4-5 of the last 22 ....
I don't know how good Stroud can be - but I do know that the Texans organization has done the man no favors with the quality of OC's he has had.
The lack of proven OC's and a lack of any focus on line play, probably the 2 most important parts of a successful offense along with the QB. Most of those not great QB's that won SB's at least had a great and consistent ground game to lean on. You could drop prime Brady on this team and he would look nothing like Brady with no time, no running game and a s**t scheme. Stroud has been mediocre this season, but it's really hard to tell how good he can be. Watching him you start to fear irreparable damage has been done to his internal clock because he operates in the pocket significantly worse than he did his rookie season.
Blaming failure on others for another persons shortcomings is a character flaw. ( Not directed at you.) I actually think Caley has done a pretty good job considering the talent he's had to work with. Add Mixon and this team probably wins 2-3 more games. Truth is that as long as Ryans is HC the Texans will never have the high flying offense some posters want. It's not the OC's fault CJ isn't playing up to the standards he set as a rookie. But to give him credit, he's gotten better at taking what's there and not turning the ball over as much, although last Saturday was a setback when it comes to this.
He has five games with a 97+ qb rating, and he's only started/finished 12 games - so you've missed nearly half of Stroud's games this year? That explains a lot.
This is what I've been saying... If you want to be upset Stroud misses this throw, or does that whatever wrong - fine. He's certainly not above making mistakes, some of which are really bad and costly (esp if we didn't have an all-time elite defense). But if you're not starting *here*, with subjectively bad management on behalf of the organization & the impact it's undoubtedly having on Stroud's development, then I find it really hard to take your POV seriously. Just look at what the Bears did in Williams' second-year compared to how the Texans managed Stroud in his third year: they dumped almost all of their free agent and draft resources into the offense and hired one of the brightest offensive minds in football. Meanwhile, the Texans traded their best offensive lineman, signed two that are no longer on the team, signed another that had 1 NFL start prior to this season, spent almost no legitimate free agent or draft capital on making the line better, and hired an inexperienced OC. If you think these two approaches are the same, or, lord forbid, think the Texans' approach was better... I mean, I don't think the sky is blue in your world.
You and I are good - you don't take shots at people. As far as blaming failure on another person's shortcomings, I haven't heard Stroud do that. I am not claiming that all of the issues are not Stroud's fault. However, I am saying that context is very important - especially when you are discussing NFL quarterbacks, where the quality of the line, the caliber of coaching and the amount of good preparation offered all matter a great deal. There are a number of examples I can give of quarterbacks that had later career success state that the quality of coaching and talent around them had an enormous impact as to how they played. Ultimately - a QB succeeds or doesn't succeed, and that is on the QB --- but performance at the QB position the last 40 years hasn't been as easily defined as whether a QB is good or not, a lot goes into it from a coaching and scheme perspective. Especially with younger QB's. I don't think Caley is all that good. Perhaps with more experience he will prove to be good --- but again, he was another OC without experience being asked to run the offense with a younger QB. It is, and has been one of the mistakes of this era of Texans football. I think that as the season has gone on, some of the line play has improved, and unlike the prior OC, the current OC is capable of some adjustments. I think that Stroud has made adjustments - but I also am concerned that he has developed some bad habits without appropriate guidance. He is at worst a capable game manager -- if they design a "safe" offense and solid line, he can manage the game at a high level. He has the arm and accuracy to do that. The question for me is whether he is going to be someone that can go out there and through 4-5 TD's if they need him to do that, and that part of his game has back tracked.
Some people legitimately are not serious. There are not... 15 starting QBs better than CJ Stroud. He's 11th in QBR; 16 in QB rating - both above league average. Tua is 29th and 24th. If someone is comparing Stroud to Tua, you have every right to ignore that person.
But.... Stroud isn't doing that; at least, not publicly. We're doing it on his behalf, which isn't a character flaw. Wait... why does Nick Caley get this qualifier - but not Stroud? Do you think *only* Caley would benefit from a healthy Mixon? That seems incredibly convenient. Besides, I thought we weren't making excuses - isn't it a character flaw? Like the OL, Marks has flashed just enough to make fans think the running game is good: it's not. Marks gets tough yards when we need it - but he's averaging 3.5 yards/carry and, like other Texans RBs, is mostly a non-factor in the RZ. Our RBs have six rushing TDs. Marks has one more rushing TD than Davis Mills. Yeah, a healthy Mixon would make EVERYONE on this offense better. No rookie QB has ever had a season like Stroud's rookie season. There was going to be a natural regression, expedited by defenses getting an entire offseason to see how to attack him. Generally speaking, QBs go up and down their first two seasons - the leap is usually in their third season. Stroud's third season was less than ideal; first-time play caller; new system; hurt middle of the season. Look at Jayden Daniels. Or even Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence - even with elite play callers, it's taken most of this season for them to figure it out. And neither missed a month. You keep dismissing legitimate issues, ignoring how common they actually are with young QBs.
Both Caley/CJ get a pass because with Mixon the Texans probably would have the #1 seed in the AFC. I've got issues with CJ's play and his reactions when things dont go well. Some regression should've been expected. But not calling the right audibles or failure to read defenses properly like he was doing Saturday shouldn't be expected particularly in yr 3. Williams is much better than he was in his rookie yr.
Aww... facts hurt! What about the 5 seasons before that, the seasons that got Tua the contract? If he puts up numbers, surely he's a franchise QB worth the money? This isn't fantasy football. You have to pass the eye test. You have to have intangibles and an ability to make rapid adjustments and decisions. That's what Tua never really had and things came to a helm this season even though... previously... he performed. That's what elite QB"s always had even early in their career when they didnt put up numbers. You have to think ahead of the crowd, not react to it. That's what made Luhnow so great. The Texans don't need a $60 million QB to win. They do however need to retain their elite defense and add OL help, as well as restock youth with potential on cheap contracts. You do that by pulling the plug on Stroud when his trade value is highest under the cloud of potential.
It's one of many clear, concise arguments in this thread. Veteran QB's will do the average job that CJ does for a fraction of the cost. Replace Stroud with Kirk Cousins and the Texans would have the same record this season. if old man Rivers can do it, I'll dust off the cleats and report to training camp myself for a bargain at $10 mil/year. You use the rest on putting an elite OL in front of me and keep opposing offenses in check and the Oilers might finally win something.
This is a remarkably silly statement, on multiple fronts. But specific to the point you're trying to make.... Kirk Cousins was paid $27.5M this season; CJ $1.3M. Next two years, as is, Cousins is set to make $70M and CJ $1.4M + a club option on his fifth year, whatever that might be. I don't in any way agree with your point - but dragging Kirk Cousins and his enormous contract into it is just.... bananas.
No your claim was I didn't watch the games. My claim is Stroud misses wide open players and I wouldn't pay him. My other claim is our defense is winning us games. That's where we are
