The Houston Texans blew their chance to have No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL draft when they beat the Indianapolis Colts 32-31 in Week 18. The Chicago Bears now have the top pick.
The good news is the Bears don’t need a quarterback as they are satisfied with Justin Fields, which means the Texans can have their pick of the field generals. The bad news is if the Bears make a deal with a quarterback-needy team, that club will jump Houston to take the first signal caller off the board.
With Houston eyeballing Bryce Young, who is also considered the best quarterback in the draft class, there is a chance the Texans may have to look for a consolation prize at quarterback.
The next-best quarterback is Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud. If another team takes Young, the Texans could be looking at Stroud as their potential franchise quarterback.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah believes Young is the best quarterback in the draft, but doesn’t believe there would be that much of a drop off talent wise if Houston had to settle for Stroud.
“I think he is just a pure thrower,” Jeremiah said in a conference call Friday. “The big question with him, it’s been talked about, was, okay, not a lot of off-schedule, not a lot of playmaking, but then all of a sudden you see the semifinal game and you are, like, dude, where has this been? He showed you he has that ability.”
With regards to the dearth of improvisational skills, at least on tape, there is an old scouting adage Jeremiah threw out to assuage believers in Stroud.
Said Jeremiah: “The old scouting adage is: if you can do it once, you can do it. So you know he does have that ability.”
According to Jeremiah, Young is “a little bit more of a playmaker,” which makes him the better player. However, adding Stroud after watching Young go No. 1 overall to another team wouldn’t be devastating for Houston.
“I would not be totally bummed if you sat there at two and ended up with C.J. Stroud,” said Jeremiah.
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