Could Sean McVay, Josh McDaniels help Texans' C.J. Stroud bounce back from mercurial second season?

The Houston Texans hired former Los Angeles Rams tight ends coach and pass-game coordinator Nick Caley as their new offensive coordinator in February.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer explained why the Texans believe Caley's NFL experience will help quarterback C.J. Stroud bounce back from an up-and-down second pro campaign.

"[Caley] and Stroud have worked hard over the course of the offseason to establish a trust level," Breer wrote. "Caley, who has experience coaching in the offenses of Sean McVay and Josh McDaniels, and the offensive staff resolved to build their scheme from scratch, sprinkling in elements of Caley’s background from the Rams and Patriots, but also incorporating things the Texans already did well and using nomenclature that’d make the transition easier on the players."

Before Caley joined McVay's staff with the Rams in early 2023, Caley learned under McDaniels and other New England coaches from 2015 through the 2022 season. Of course, legendary quarterback Tom Brady earned six of his seven career Super Bowl rings while playing in McDaniels' offense. 

As for Stroud, Pro Football Reference shows that he finished the 2024 regular season ranked 19th in the NFL among qualified quarterbacks with an average of 219.2 passing yards per game, 25th with an 87.0 passer rating and tied for 15th with 20 passing touchdowns. Over 17 contests, he tossed 12 interceptions. 

To compare, the 23-year-old ended his rookie campaign leading the league among qualified players with 273.9 passing yards per game and ranked sixth with a 100.8 passer rating. Over 15 games, he recorded 23 touchdown passes with just five picks. 

According to Breer, the Texans "hope that [Stroud will] be able to do more at the line of scrimmage [under Caley] than he has in his first two years, which would be leveraging a strength of his from his college days." 

League executives, coaches and scouts surveyed by ESPN in July did not rank Stroud among the NFL's top-10 quarterbacks entering the 2025 season after landing at No. 7 on 2024's list. Stroud will have an opportunity to prove his doubters wrong when the Texans open the season at the Rams on Sept. 7.