Ohio State Football: Three things C.J. Stroud must fix before Oregon
By Ryan Stano
Stroud must go through his progressions
This is something that can be chalked up to inexperience as well. Stroud very rarely got off his first guy. If his first guy wasn’t open, he started rolling out of the pocket and started to panic a bit. He didn’t move his eyes to try to find another guy open down the field.
More likely than not, Stroud’s first receiver is going to be open. That’s how he was able to throw for four touchdowns in this game. His receivers were wide open on all of them and were able to do most of the work in gaining those yards. This is what led to the misleading stat line.
Stroud will learn this more in time. In a game against a team like Oregon, the athletes will be bigger and faster. He’s going to have to move off his first read if it’s not there. He’s not going to want to because of the fact that Oregon is better, but that still has to happen.
Ryan Day can help with this easily. Day is a former quarterback and knows exactly what Stroud is going through. This week in practice, he can help Stroud feel more comfortable scanning across the field for different receivers. He can’t lock on to one guy.
Of all the adjustments Stroud has to make, this one is going to be the hardest in just one week. Stroud only has one game of experience under his belt. It’s hard to break bad habits. He’s going to have to work extremely hard in order to do this.
The last thing Stroud has to fix might be the easiest for him to do so.