Texans’ C.J. Stroud Still Underrated in Latest NFL QB Rankings

There’s an argument to be made that Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud received a bit too much hype for his rookie season and a bit too much criticism for his second season. Despite the team accomplishing a nearly identical outcome, a 10-7 regular season finish, a tight wild card win, and a tough second-round loss, Stroud’s 2025 expectations are all over the place because of how different the season played out for him.

Even his stats were largely the same, though the seven extra interceptions stood out alongside the 52 sacks he succumbed to. For whatever reason, though, he hasn’t been afforded much benefit of the doubt for the second-year struggles after running away with the 2023 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. 

Plenty of quarterback ranking lists this offseason dropped him much too low, some into the bottom half of the league. But even those that do include him in a respectable ranking still seem to sell the Texans’ franchise quarterback short.

Yahoo! Sports recently published a ranking of who they felt are the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL, with C.J. Stroud landing at No. 10. However, the rankings were also grouped by tiers, leaving Stroud lumped in with other quarterbacks who are ‘floor raisers’, or quarterbacks who make the most out of a difficult situation.

Stroud fell behind Dak Prescott, Geno Smith, and Jordan Love in that tier. It’s worth noting that Stroud has more playoff wins than two of those quarterbacks and more than a quarterback in the tier above, Justin Herbert. 

“Stroud was under siege last year for the Texans’ offense and didn’t have his best statistical year, and he still gave them a chance against the Chiefs in the divisional round,” Yahoo! Sports’ Charles McDonald wrote. “The accuracy and skill level will always be there, but the poor surroundings drove Stroud into some bad habits.”

Well, those poor surroundings are gone, at least. The Texans took multiple steps to ensure that Stroud wouldn’t be subjected to the same failings in Year 3. He’s got a new offensive coordinator out of the Sean McVay tree, a completely revamped offensive line, and a few extra weapons who are already impressing.

Last year, the line was abysmal because the protections were lackluster, and Stroud had no control at the line of scrimmage to make adjustments. At receiver, he lost Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs to injury. 

The big question mark is whether that new offensive line can hit the ground running. With the additions elsewhere, Stroud has a strong supporting cast that can get him back on track.