The Houston Texans announced a major honor for their star quarterback C.J. Stroud on Thursday. NFL fans voted and Stroud was their pick for Rookie of the Year after leading his team to the playoffs and making it past the first round.
Their No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Stroud lived up to every expectation the Texans had for him in his first year with first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans.
Stroud is among five candidates still in consideration for the NFL’s official Offensive Rookie of the Year award, which is decided upon by AP voters. Joining him are Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, Puka Nacua and Bijan Robinson.
The AP will announce the winners of the league’s top awards on Feb. 8, 2023, during the 13th annual NFL honors ceremony. The event will air live on CBS and NFL Network and stream on Paramount+ and NFL+.
Stroud wins NFL fan vote
Stroud finished the regular season with 4,108 passing yards and 23 touchdowns while only throwing five interceptions. He connected on 63.9% of his passes and shattered multiple records throughout his debut campaign. Against the Browns and Ravens in the playoffs, he went 16-for-21 and 19-for-33 while throwing three interceptions, all of which came against Cleveland.
All eyes were on the former Buckeye to start the year as he racked up 192 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, which was the most ever by a player to begin a career. He ended the year with the league’s most passing yards per game (273.9), and he also had the league’s best touchdown-interception ratio (4.60), joining only Joe Montana and Tom Brady to top the league in both in a single season.
Stroud’s passing yards total trailed only one former NFL quarterback’s rookie record, Andrew Luck‘s 4,662 yards, which he threw for the Colts in 2012. Among the records he broke this season, the first-rounder set a new rookie single-game passing record and rookie single-game touchdown record with his 470-yard and five-touchdown game against the Buccaneers.
The Houston Texans drafted Stroud with the No. 2 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. He was fresh off of a trip to the national championship, a game in which he threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns.
After the end of the season, the former Buckeyes star was able to make his Pro Bowl debut. Though not initially on the list, Stroud was called up to replace Patrick Mahomes who plays in Super Bowl LVIII this weekend.
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