Texans' C.J. Stroud Receives Concerning Take Ahead of Third Season

Looking back on C.J. Stroud's second season for the Houston Texans, it was far from perfect.

Pairing together turnover issues, Houston's various protection lapses, and an overall disappointing output from what Stroud had put together during his Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign in 2023, the Texans quarterback left fans wanting a bit more out of their aspiring franchise signal caller following a surging first season on the scene.

Now, after an offseason with changes around the offense and Stroud's supporting cast, there's definitely some upside to see the arrow pointing in the right direction for the 2025 season ahead. However, with those improvements in play, it could place some significant pressure on Stroud for his third-year pro.

FOX Sports analyst Ben Arthur stacked up the NFL's top ten players with the most to prove for the season ahead, where Stroud found himself squarely in the mix at number nine.

"After following his historic rookie campaign with a disappointing 2024 season, Stroud must show that he's what he was as a first-year pro," Arthur wrote. "Last season, he was more mistake-prone (16 giveaways in 2024; nine in 2023) and seemed to be affected by the Texans’ poor pass protection. His passing numbers last season dropped across the board, including completion rate, passing yards, touchdowns, interceptions, passing success rate, yards per attempt and passer rating."

In Stroud's defense, there was a large number of factors playing against his favor from the season's start to finish. All three of his top weapons in the offense faced some form of injury troubles throughout the year, and Houston's pass protection saw some significant steps backward from what the Ohio State product had during his rookie season.

But now, the necessary improvements have been added in the fold to provide Stroud a much more stable surrounding structure. Houston selected two new wide receivers in the first two days of the draft, the offensive line looks vastly different, and with it, perhaps Stroud can get back to a similar level of production to what he put together during his first year onboard.

The stakes are high for Stroud and this Texans offense next season. Time will tell if this group can meet those lofty expectations to reach a third-straight AFC South victory at year's end.