Texans make right decision in taking C.J. Stroud following pre-draft rumors

Ben Arthur

AFC South Reporter

The rumors swirled around the Texans, picking up furiously in the days and weeks leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft, fueled by league insiders and draft pundits. How Houston could do what once seemed crazy: passing on a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick. How they could take a defensive player instead, either by staying put or trading down. How they could take the gamble of using their second first-rounder — the No. 12 overall pick — to land their hopeful signal-caller.

Ultimately, the Texans made the no-brainer decision on the first day of the 2023 NFL Draft: taking C.J. Stroud with the No. 2 overall pick, after the Panthers took Alabama’s Bryce Young with the top selection.

Stroud was a consensus top-two quarterback in this draft — an elite, accurate pocket passer with possible untapped potential in the escapability department (eg. how he extended plays in the Peach Bowl against Georgia). In his two seasons as Ohio State‘s starting quarterback, he completed 69.3% of his passes for 8,123 yards for 85 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. He went 21-4 as a starter for the Buckeyes and led the FBS in pass efficiency rating this past season (177.6).

So it was critical for Houston to not overthink this selection.

The team’s need for a franchise quarterback was priority No. 1 after it became clear the answer wasn’t Davis Mills, who struggled in 2022 after an encouraging rookie season. Passing on Stroud — any of the top signal-callers, really — never made sense for a general manager like Nick Caserio, who’s on the hot seat. He’s had the rare opportunity to hire three head coaches in three years amid constant losing.

It’s not hard to imagine passing on a quarterback being a tough sell for the McNair family, which owns the Texans. The franchise has been irrelevant for years, the biggest storylines being dysfunction within its building. The team has 11 wins in the past three years combined. NRG Stadium has grown increasingly empty in recent seasons. There was the fallout and eventual trade of their former franchise quarterback, Deshaun Watson, too. The team has been rebuilding for multiple years. The fan base needed a reason for hope.

The hire of DeMeco Ryans brought excitement to Houston, but it’s the players and team performance that ultimately fills seats. That’s why taking a swing at a prospect who could be your quarterback of the future was a necessity.

Punting on a signal-caller at No. 2 would’ve been a clear indication that the Texans would be OK if they didn’t get one in this draft class, because there’s no guarantee they’d be able to get one of the top four (Young, Stroud, Florida’s Anthony Richardson, Kentucky‘s Will Levis) at or trading up from No. 12.

Ultimately, a team must have full conviction in a quarterback it selects this high in the draft. And the Texans may have had that this whole time, amid all the speculation suggesting otherwise.

Lost in the rumors about Houston is that Ryans offered a bread crumb on NFL Network about a month ago.

“I still want to add some competition to that quarterback position,” he said, “and this year, there’s two good guys at the top [of the draft] that we’ve looked at and that we value pretty highly.”

The Texans grabbed one of them in Stroud, ending the nonsense swirling around them in the process.

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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