What An Absolutely Atrocious Interception By CJ Stroud On His First NFL Preseason Drive

Matt Fitzgerald8/11/2023 12:10 AM

Bill Belichick loves to make first- and second-year quarterbacks' lives a waking fucking nightmare, so did he pull out some sort of exotic coverage on 3rd and 21? Or is CJ Stroud just that much of a "see-it" thrower like so many of his superstar Ohio State predecessors who can't hack it in the NFL? Two plays before this, Stroud took a 15-yard sack. Also doesn't bode terribly well.

Look I'm obviously being a little hyperbolic because that's what we do here in the preseason. There's no other way to do this. Everyone's starving for football at this point. We'll take every morsel we can get right now. We're always looking for the next big, shiny thing, only to then let our gnat-esque attention spans scroll to the next dumbass viral shit on the Internets.

Regardless of all those disclaimers, qualifiers et al., most folks would quietly hope that Stroud could end the stigma around Buckeye QBs translating to the pros. Maybe Justin Fields will do it in Chicago. TBD entering Year 3 for him. And I think the deck is so stacked against Stroud that I feel bad for him. Dude is having to split reps in training camp with Davis Fucking Mills. You know what? Davis Mills probably isn't that awful at football. He just so happens to play in Houston.

How is the deck stacked against Stroud? Well, in the midst of what's viewed as a full-blown rebuild, the Texans traded their first-round pick next year to move up and take Will Anderson Jr. third overall after drafting Stroud No. 2. It was a balls-on-the-table move I applauded at the time. Now I'm starting to wonder, "Well shit, Houston may've given up the second/third pick in NEXT YEAR'S draft to Arizona in that deal!"

Stroud can only go up from here. That's the good news. The bad? I mean...Jalen Mills read him like a book. Staring down receivers may have worked when you had ALL first-rounders to throw to in C-Bus. Not so much now. I swear, the Buckeyes had wideouts who are all, I shit you not, probably better than anyone on the Texans' current roster.

I get that it's 3rd and Forever, but you gotta be smarter with the ball there, CJ. Poor guy has a dearth of pass-catching talent, a defensive head coach, and a rookie offensive coordinator who took a four-year sabbatical after his first coaching stop to work at Pro Football Focus.

DeMeco Ryans seems like he's on the ball. It's dope that he's an ex-Texans stud linebacker and is trying to resurrect this franchise —or more accurately, turn it into a sustainable winner for the first time in their history. If Stroud proves to be a whiff, though, DAMN what a setback.

To reiterate: This is a colossal overreaction to one play. "PEYTON MANNING THREW 28 PICKS AS A ROOKIE" yeah I know. But like...that's a throw I didn't think CJ Stroud would ever make on a Saturday in college. Never mind in the NFL. Good luck, rook! He's already been yanked for Davis Mills.