C.J. Stroud Already Looks Like a Veteran QB

It’s pleasing to the eye to see a quarterback pick apart a defense with ease. But you learn a lot more about him in those ugly games where every play feels like a struggle.

The first 4 weeks of C.J. Stroud’s rookie season were very impressive. He averaged 303 passing yards per game and threw 6 TDs with no interceptions. The last two weeks haven’t been quite as pretty, as the Texans have had to slug it out in lower-scoring contests where the winner wasn’t determined until the final seconds.

Yet these games have taught us so much more about how good of a quarterback Stroud can be.

Against Atlanta, we learned about his level of preparation, football IQ, and calmness under pressure.

The Texans trailed 18-12 with 1:54 remaining and faced a 3rd-and-9 from the Falcons’ 18-yard line. You can hear Stroud talk about this play here. He had spotted something in his film study about safety Jessie Bates in another “big-time 3rd-down situation” when the Falcons were playing some kind of quarters coverage:

“I knew that he [Bates] was gonna try to make the play of the game and try to take it away.”

So in anticipation of this situation, Stroud apparently drew up a route on the fly for tight end Dalton Schultz that would get Bates to bite.

“I told Dalton to do a certain thing in his route that I thought would get us not only the first down but a touchdown. […]I’m literally trying to break down exactly what I want from him in the huddle.”

Below, you can see the play.

The Texans aligned in a trips bunch to the right with Schultz at the front of the bunch. Notice that the Falcons were showing a quarters “lock” coverage look with Jessie Bates aligned to Schultz’s side:

The action that Stroud anticipated based on a similar situation was that Bates would try to jump the #2 vertical if it broke inside. So how did Stroud counter?