C.J. Stroud in “Elite” situation

PFF grades the sitch for all 2nd year quarterbacks.

Earlier last year, C.J. Stroud was touted as the backup prize in the NFL draft. The Carolina Panthers had selected Bryce Young and seemed poised to turn their franchise into a winner. Meanwhile, Texans’ GM Nick Caserio was telling anyone who would listen they wanted Stroud all along, while pundits replied with “Sure… sure…”

Fast forward 12 months and Stroud is considered one of, if not the, best young quarterbacks in the league. Meanwhile, the Texans are the reigning AFC South Champions and the Panthers are standing around wondering just what went wrong.

And that was just based on Stroud’s performance last season.

Our awesome, own VBallRetired did a piece on what to expect from Stroud in year 2, earlier this week.

PFF also shone the spotlight on Stroud recently in their Grading the situations of second-year quarterbacks piece.

PFF.com

• C.J. Stroud remains in an elite situation: Nico Collins, rookie Tank Dell and now top-tier veteran Stefon Diggs headline an impressive Texans passing attack for 2024.

The chemistry between Stroud and Collins should only improve in 2024.

If Dell can recover from his gunshot wound, and stay on the field, he and Stroud will connect early and often for a lot of yards, and points.

Diggs, already an all-pro receiver, just takes this passing attack from formidable to downright scary.

PFF.com

C.J. STROUD, HOUSTON TEXANS: ELITE

The Texans have made one of the quickest pivots from a rebuilding team into one that can contend. Stroud’s outstanding play in his rookie season is the driving force, but Houston has also rapidly built a strong supporting cast around him. We didn’t know it at the time, but Stroud walked into a great situation with new offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, who did a great job of marrying their run and pass games to provide Stroud with clean, easy decisions all year long.

On top of the new play caller, the Texans also had a very successful young group of receivers, led by Nico Collins and rookie Tank Dell. Dell’s 2.22 yards per route run was good for second best among rookie receivers. Collins had a breakout season in his third NFL season, finishing with the third-best overall grade among all receivers. The Texans were one of three NFL teams to have two wide receivers with top-15 grades. The team then went out and added a top-tier veteran wide receiver in Stefon Diggs, bolstering an already elite passing attack.

While Houston’s offensive line as a whole might not stack up as one of the best in the NFL, Stroud has an elite offensive lineman to help protect his blindside in Laremy Tunsil. Tunsil has never had a season with a pass-blocking grade lower than 75.0 and has never allowed more than 32 pressures in a campaign.

Click here to view PFF’s complete projected 2024 lineup.