The Houston Texans’ 2024 season was somewhat of a disappointment considering many viewed the club as a Super Bowl contender last summer.
This past March, the Texans acquired wide receiver Christian Kirk from the Jacksonville Jaguars to serve as a weapon for third-year quarterback C.J. Stroud. During a Monday appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Kirk suggested that Stroud will bounce back in a big way from an up-and-down second pro campaign.
“He’s gonna take this team as far as we want to go,” Kirk said about Stroud, as shared by Bobby Kownack of the NFL’s website. “…He’s been great just within the few months of spending time around him, communicating with him in the locker room, outside of the facility, whatever the case may be. He’s got a bright future. Really excited to get to work with him.”
The second overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, Stroud earned Offensive Rookie of the Year Award honors as he guided Houston to a postseason berth. According to Pro Football Reference, he ended that regular season ranked first in the NFL among qualified players with an average of 273.9 passing yards per game, sixth with a 100.8 passer rating and tied for 13th with 23 passing touchdowns.
Some wondered in June 2024 if Stroud could emerge as a legitimate Most Valuable Player Award candidate by Week 18 of his second season. He instead failed to make a significant leap before the Texans fell in the divisional round of the playoffs for a second straight year.
Per Pro Football Reference, Stroud ended this past regular season ranked 19th in the league among qualified players with an average of 219.2 passing yards per game, 25th with an 87.0 passer rating and tied for 15th with 20 passing touchdowns. Only 2024 rookie Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears took more sacks (68) than Stroud (52) last season.
For a piece published on Tuesday, DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN noted that the Texans spent much of the offseason and springtime workouts “shuffling” players on the offensive line in an attempt to find the best unit to protect Stroud later this year. Kirk seems to believe Stroud won’t be discouraged after the 23-year-old absorbed quite a bit of punishment throughout the 2024 campaign.
“The thing that sticks out about C.J. is he’s super mild-mannered, but he has a lot of confidence and he’s smart. He sees things well,” Kirk added during his comments. “He’s a really good communicator. I think at that position, especially being a quarterback and him being a younger guy, that’s a big part of him getting to where he is now and still excelling.”
As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Texans at +1900 betting odds to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LX this coming February. To compare, DraftKings also had a Pittsburgh Steelers team that recently signed 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers to be its starting quarterback at +1900 odds to win the next AFC Championship Game.
Perhaps Stroud and Co. will ultimately benefit from flying under the radar after the Texans fell short of the expectations some had for them last season.
