The first half of the 2023 NFL season already showed us that the Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud is not your average rookie quarterback. His sublime performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday shows that he might be the greatest rookie signal-caller in NFL history. Period.
All afternoon, it was abundantly clear that Tampa Bay had no answer for Stroud’s precision and poise. If the Buccaneers had even come close to rattling Stroud, he didn’t show a solitary sign of wilting to the moment. The young quarterback threw for 470 yards — an NFL single-game record for a rookie — and an astonishing five touchdowns against Todd Bowles’ defense. (Never mind that Stroud primarily achieved all of this without a kicker.)
It’s that last score to Tank Dell in the final seconds, capping a 75-yard game-winning drive in 46 seconds, that acted as the perfect cherry on top. It’s also emblematic of a young man who already resembles a franchise quarterback who can elevate Houston like the best of them:
CJ STROUDDDDDDDDDDDD. #TBvsHOU pic.twitter.com/gW2PMBVIbj
— NFL (@NFL) November 5, 2023
That is some special stuff, folks. Those are not throws you usually see rookie quarterbacks make. And sparkling games like Sunday come more often from 10-year veterans, not guys who just completed their first November NFL start ever.
Stroud can potentially be a face of the league type of player for years to come. And we all witness to his remarkable ascent.