Ohio State Football: Three bold predictions for C.J. Stroud in 2022
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football program is going to have one of the best offenses in the country in the 2022 season. They did have the best offense last year, leading the country in yards per game, points per game, and were third in passing yards per game.
Despite losing two receivers to the first round of the NFL Draft, the Buckeyes should still have one of the best offenses in the country again this year. That’s because of C.J. Stroud. He was magnificent last year in the Rose Bowl without those two receivers, setting a Rose Bowl record for yards and touchdown passes.
Stroud should be even better this season now that he has a full year of experience under his belt. He is on track to have one of the best seasons an Ohio State quarterback has had in a while. I think he is good enough to lead this team to a lot of wins this season.
I have three bold predictions for Stroud this season. I think he’s good enough to achieve all of these things, even if they are a bit lofty. After seeing how he handled the adversity of last year, I have no doubt he’s up to the challenge to do all of these things this year.
The Ohio State football team will have a new single-season passing record.
Right now, the guy holding the single-season passing record is Dwayne Haskins. He set the record of 4,831 yards back in 2018 in his lone years as a starter for the Ohio State football team. Haskins had to throw the ball a lot because of how bad the defense was.
While Stroud’s defense won’t be the best this year either, it should still be improved from last year’s abysmal squad. But the defense won’t have anything to do with why Stroud sets the new record. His deep passing and YAC from his receivers will.
Stroud has an excellent arm and can throw it deep very well, even when he is off-balance. With Jaxon Smith-Njigba able to get a lot of yards after the catch, he should be able to rack up the passing yards using deep passes and middle routes. The combination of those things should help Stroud’s passing total.
Play-action passes will also help the Buckeyes get passing yards. Their quick-strike ability is what makes them the most lethal offense in the country. I wouldn’t be surprised if Stroud approached 5,000 yards this season. He’s that good of a quarterback.
The second bold prediction for him is more of a team goal that Stroud can help lead them to.