Why Texans' C.J. Stroud will look like himself again in 2026

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud came into the NFL and made it look like it was easy. As a rookie in 2023, he threw for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions, numbers that are truly insane for a first-year player. He went over 191 pass attempts before throwing his first pick, broke Andrew Luck's rookie passing yard record in a single game with 470 yards, and won Offensive Rookie of the Year. He looked like a player who had already played five seasons, not zero.

Then things went downhill. In 2024, his yards dropped to 3,727, his touchdowns dropped to 20, and his interceptions jumped up to 12. In 2025, he somehow got worse with only 3,014 yards and 19 touchdowns, capped off by a playoff disaster where he threw five interceptions combined in two games and completed under 43% of his passes in the loss to the New England Patriots.

So where did all his talent go? The easiest answer is the offensive line completely fell apart. Houston traded away left tackle Laremy Tunsil and the protection in front of Stroud took a turn for the worse. He got pressured on 38.6% of his dropbacks in 2024, the fourth highest in the league, and got sacked 52 times, the second most in the NFL that year. That is not a situation any quarterback is able Survive clean, not even the elite ones.

But it's not just the line; his deep ball disappeared as well. As a rookie, he completed 58.8% of his throws of 20+ yards with eight touchdowns and zero interceptions. Over the next two seasons combined, he only completed 31% of the same deep throws, with eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions. That is a massive drop in accuracy on the throws that made him special in the first place.

Why does 2026 look different for C.J. Stroud?

There are a few reasons. The offensive line got fixed last season, with sacks dropping from 52 down to 23, basically cutting the amount of pressure in half. The Texans will also be running it back with second-year offensive coordinator Nick Caley, so Stroud won't be learning a brand new system again. Wide receiver Tank Dell, who missed all of 2025 with a knee injury, is finally back practicing and gives Stroud a familiar target. Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel are heading into year two after solid rookie seasons, and they have added size in the tight end room in Houston. On top of all that, quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski got promoted and has full confidence in Stroud's mechanics heading into the season.

None of this means Stroud is a bad quarterback, cause he's not. He still led Houston to the playoffs in all of three of his seasons, and the Texans were comfortable enough to pick up his fifth-year option this offseason. But right now he is not a top-tier quarterback either, and pretending otherwise would be ignoring two straight seasons of regression. 

The talent was never really the question; the tools around him finally look stable again, and that is exactly why 2026 sets up as the year Stroud proves that his rookie season wasn't just a fluke.