Shannon Sharpe Slams Texans' C.J. Stroud After Early Slump

For the present time at least, the bulk of the fingers have been pointing in the direction of new offensive coordinator Nick Caley for the early failings. Recurring issues that have made Stroud look less than comfortable when diagnosing what's going on at the line of scrimmage, and might indeed lead to some slimming down of the playbook occurring in short order.

Sharpe isn't really questioning the levels of focus and commitment Stroud has to making things work, more so, the three-time Super Bowl champion is suggesting that all that sheer expectation is now weighing him down.

"The thing is that C.J. has expectations now," Sharpe declared."You have expectations. You look at that team, you have Will Anderson Jr., you have Danielle Hunter, Singley Jr., Nico Collins. You got expectations."

"They expect you guys to win the division, to go in the playoffs, make a deep run. Those are the expectations. You did that based on what you did your rookie year, right? "So, this is what you've done and this is what you want. You want those levels of expectation is now weighing him down."

When push comes to shove, Sharpe is of the firm opinion that you simply run out of excuses when the talent on a perennial playoff roster can simply roll off the tongue.

In essence, that's what makes the sustained dip in Stroud's performances all the more baffling; he certainly isn't short of a talented supporting cast at the skill positions on offense, or over on the defensive side of the ball. However, the current state of flux right along the offensive line in front of Stroud is causing the Texans’ signal caller serious issues, and he's been getting twitchy.

While Sharpe has a degree of sympathy for Stroud on that front, he's not going to give him a hall pass regardless– because the struggles are now spilling over from his sophomore year and into his third NFL campaign.

What everybody is really looking for, Sharpe included, is for Stroud to man up and start playing with much better levels of consistency moving forward.

"Yeah, they can get better offensive line play, but C.J. hasn't played well in a while, consistency," Sharpe insisted. "Yeah, he'll have a game here and there, but consistency is the thing that makes us who we are when we are dealing with professional sports.

"It's the consistency. It's the game in and game out. Everybody knows you're not going to pass for 300 yards every single game or throw two, three touchdowns, but it's the consistent play. He's been very, very inconsistent. He's been up and down, up and down. He's going to have to find a way to level this thing off and get some calm."

Sharpe won't be the only one within the media masses who will take aim at Stroud should he continue to struggle, and few will be as unflinchingly constructive when doing so either.

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