C.J. Stroud sets NFL rookie record, leads game-winning drive

Former Ohio State football player C.J. Stroud should have been the number-one overall pick in last year’s NFL Draft. He played the best game of his collegiate career against Georgia, which ended up being his last game. Instead, he was taken second overall by the Houston Texans.

All Stroud has done since he’s been in the NFL is do great things. He set an NFL record for most pass attempts without an interception to start a career. He’s thrown for a ton of yards and came into Sunday’s game with a 9/1 touchdown to interception ratio.

He played even better on Sunday against the Buccaneers. C.J. Stroud set an NFL rookie record for passing yards, throwing for 470 yards and 5 touchdowns. What’s even better is that he didn’t turn the ball over either. He was absolutely on fire and showed a ton of poise.

Not only did Stroud throw for 470 yards, but he led a game-winning drive with just 46 seconds left in the game. He led the Texans down and threw a touchdown to Tank Dell with 6 seconds left to seal the victory. It was an incredible moment in his young NFL career.

Stroud has proven over the course of this year that he is a franchise quarterback. Houston was lucky that Carolina decided to take Bryce Young over him. Young has been decidedly worse this year and came into Sunday with his team sporting just a 1-6 record.

I would say that there’s no doubt that Stroud is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year at this point. The Texans are now 4-4 and still very much alive for a wild-card spot. Even if they don’t make the playoffs this year, Stroud is someone that Houston can build around for the next 15 years.

Stroud has gotten rid of the “Ohio State quarterbacks can’t play in the NFL” stigma. His play has shown that’s simply not true.