C.J. Stroud's Sophomore Slump & Houston Texans' 2025 Outlook

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00:00And so when you look at Houston DRS, CJ Stroud, a sensational rookie year, ran away with offensive

00:07rookie of the year, much the same that Jaden Daniels did in 2024, back in 2023. But the stats

00:13in his sophomore year, was it a sophomore slump? Was it the NFL catching up on everything CJ Stroud?

00:20Was it Bobby Slowick looking a lot different than he did in 2023? I think the main difference was

00:25that offensive line. He was sacked, Stroud, 52 times in 2024. Only Caleb Williams was sacked more,

00:33and that was 68. And then the Bears said, all right, enough of that. It made huge additions.

00:38Joe Tooney, Drew Daltman, and the guy from Detroit via LA that I'm blanking on, Joe Jackson,

00:45up front as well. Houston traded away their best piece. They add the veteran Cam Robinson as Stroud's

00:52blind side blocker. But I don't know if that's enough. Again, you look at the numbers for CJ

00:57Stroud. If you were passing yards, you were touchdowns in his second year than his rookie

01:02campaign. More interceptions. Only had five during 2024. 12 a season ago. A worse QBR. A worse passer

01:09rating. And I'm not saying that was all on him, DRS. But he'll enter this season with Nico Collins back.

01:15But Tank Dell suffering that gruesome injury late in the year against the Chiefs out for 2025 as well.

01:23Ultimately, if you ask me right now, pick the AFC South champ. I give a 55% edge to the Houston

01:29Texans. But I would not be surprised that the other 45% being the Jacksonville Jaguars if Liam Cohen is

01:36the real deal. And Trevor Lawrence is so much better and healthy this year. If the Jaguars kind of changed

01:42the tune in the division and won the AFC South, ultimately, in my estimation, keeping the Texans

01:47from the postseason. Yeah, no, you're right about it. And those are the only two teams you have to

01:51worry about. And this team could surprise. Trust me, the Colts aren't surprising anybody, and neither

01:55are the Tennessee Titans. Now, here's where the difference might come in, because you say to

01:59yourself, like, Nico Collins, one of the best, you know, wide receivers in the game, really coming

02:03into his own. Missed a couple weeks last year. That certainly is going to hurt a quarterback with his best

02:07weapon down for four or five, six games at that point. But understand this, you are built on that

02:12offensive line. But if you are taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars, where's their strength?

02:16Like Liam Coleman, the new head coach, passing, brings it back, similar sort of setup to what he

02:22had in Tampa Bay. But understand this, you are legit at cornerback and pass rush on Houston.

02:28If you want to slow down Brian Thomas Jr., if you want to slow down Travis Hunter next year,

02:31you have the secondary to do that with those frontline cornerbacks out there,

02:34some of the best in the business. You want to get pressure on, you know, in the pocket. You have

02:39that with Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. This team is set up for a lot of success. It isn't just

02:44interesting. Like, you have a team that's ready to move forward. Like, think about the teams that

02:48always are looking to be on the cross. Like, it might not always work in Kansas City, but every time

02:52they say, we need our offensive line, they retool it every year. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles,

02:57dominant on the offensive line. What does that equal? Success in the playoffs and Super Bowl runs.

03:01It's hard to say, like, even if you dial back to like the, the early 1990s fill out the Eagles

03:06with Randall Cunningham and all that success, they had a terrible offensive line and it never

03:09works out. Show me one team that has musical chairs and a bad offensive line. That's absolutely

03:14dominant. Like, look at Cincinnati, barely able to protect their quarterback. If you don't have a

03:19line that can protect your quarterback, it's hard for me to say, yes, you can make a deep run

03:24and possibly a Super Bowl run. It just is. Yeah.