What Is The Best Way For C.J. Stroud To Be Elite?

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On The Drive, Clint Stoerner and Ron Hughley go over the news of Texans linebacker Christian Harris and left guard Kenyon Green returning to practice from the injured reserve. Plus, they discuss C.J. Stroud's path to being an elite NFL quarterback and whether he can get there.

Transcript

00:00But the big news is the reports that the Texans have designated Christian Harris and Kenyon

00:07Green to return to practice from IR. So those guys should be back at practice coming up this week.

00:16And the head coach, D'Amico Ryans in particular, had this to say about his linebacker

00:21with who he's been without all season, Christian Harris.

00:24Christian has done an outstanding job of working off to the side

00:27and our strength and conditioning staff, our sports performance staff have done a

00:31great job of working with Christian. Just seeing him back out moving around,

00:35you know, he looks like himself physically moving around. It's just a matter of,

00:39like you said, missing a lot of football. It's just a matter of him getting back in

00:42and getting those... can help you do football instead of playing football.

00:48So he just has to get out there and get those physical reps of hearing a call,

00:52getting lined up. But physically, he looks like he's in a really good spot.

00:55All right, that's him talking about Christian Harris. And he also spoke about Kenyon Green

01:01and just simply said, hey, we're not making decisions right now, which we probably know

01:08what they're going to do, but he ain't letting us know the decisions. But those two guys are back,

01:12Clint, and the people you can jump in. Those of you on YouTube and Twitch, we appreciate you

01:17every day. Those of you on the text line, we appreciate you also as well. And thank you for

01:26riding with us as you do every day. You can respond to this as well. What does this mean

01:31for the Texans getting these guys back? And how soon do we think they could be available for the

01:38Texans? Because obviously Christian Harris especially sticks out as a key, key member of

01:44this team. Look, I hope neither one of these guys are affected this week. I don't think bringing

01:49Christian Harris back after a week's worth of practice and introducing him to the quickest,

01:56twitchiest, most explosive, arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the league with the timing

02:02and the RPO and the quick game and the screen game. This offense is going to be a tough, tough,

02:10tough matchup for the Houston Texans. In particular, their linebackers put a lot of

02:16stress on our linebackers. I don't know that introducing Christian Harris back to the NFL

02:21is the first game back after one week of practice. Actually, the way practice nowadays in 2024 in the

02:27NFL, I don't know that that is a good idea. I'm pretty sure I would rather have guys that have

02:32been seeing full speed action for the entire season. This linebacking crew has proven to be

02:40deep. Whether you know the guy's name or not, that depth has played really well. We'll see

02:47if they can handle what Miami's going to throw at them, but I think I would much rather go

02:51with the guys that are healthy. Glad to hear Christian Harris is back on the practice field.

02:55Huge step in the right direction. It's been a long time since this guy's played football.

03:00Forget the contact aspect of it. That's the biggest part of it. Forget the physicality

03:05that is the NFL with most teams. Forget that part of it. Let's just talk about

03:11seeing what the hell's going on in real time and being able to react instead of think.

03:16I don't know that Christian Harris is going to be ready to rock and roll in that fashion

03:20yet against this particular offense. I hope this is a non-factor. Then you look at

03:27guard Kenyon Green. Let's just be honest. This ain't about Kenyon. This is depth. I do think

03:36it gives you some options at the guard position if there is indeed some kind of injury somewhere.

03:41Gives you a little bit of versatility, if you will, up front. If something happens at center,

03:45juice can go back. Boom. You plug and play pieces that have already played those positions and

03:50you're not introducing guys to the NFL. You're not introducing guys to real action.

03:57It gives you some depth. This Kenyon Green coming back again should not affect the starting

04:06offensive line in any way, shape, or form. That's what I was going to say. This is about

04:10Christian Harris. Kenyon Green is going to go back to the role that he was headed towards before he

04:17got injured. When Jarrett Patterson gets back, we're going to move Jarrett Patterson somewhere

04:24in the starting lineup. You take a step back. He would only return in there if there was an

04:29injury like you just talked about. To me, this is about Christian Harris. I just don't see how

04:37or why right now the Texans aren't in this situation. Obviously, they have lost Aziz

04:43Alshire. To me, Clint, we've not seen him on the practice field since he was on the practice field

04:54for about a half an hour in training camp. Then he had to go back out with whatever this calf

04:58issue has been. They did that with Nico. Nico returned to the practice field and he didn't

05:05play for a week or two. To me, I would be shocked if Christian Harris is on the field.

05:14Against them. As you said, he had to bring it back. Hey, hello. Here comes A-Chain. Here comes

05:19John O'Smith and the speed that they bring. To me, if he is on the field by Christmas against

05:27the Ravens, I think to me that makes a lot of sense. A couple of weeks. Just to ramp him up

05:34and make him go immediately, to me, feels like that's dangerous. You want to let him get himself

05:41going first. Even if you feel good about it. I know D'Amico Rhines feels really good about

05:48the strength conditioning staff and the training staff working together to make sure these guys

05:54are ready to play. Even if you have the best of those two combined and you're doing all the work

06:02on the side and this guy's giving you everything you want, he's changing direction, he's exploding,

06:06he's stretching it out. He can literally go full speed and full tilt when he's changing

06:12directions. There still ain't nothing like 250, 300 pounds leaning on you and now you're trying

06:19to hold that. You're trying to go the opposite direction that guy is. Now, whatever's wrong

06:25with the calf, whatever's wrong with the knee, whatever's wrong with the Achilles, whatever.

06:29Now you got 250, 300 pounds bearing down on you. That's a different animal. I just would rather

06:35see him get a few weeks worth of practice of full speed, a little bit of contact mixed in there at

06:42some point in time before we throw him to the wolves. Again, I would be more worried about

06:49the reading and reacting in real time that the Miami Dolphins are fixing to throw at you.

06:55That's a monster. All right. Clint, this was a weekend. That was a bye week. You had to sit

07:01back like many of you did and just relax and watch football. It's hard not to watch these games

07:10from a Texans perspective and to see some of these games and watch it and think,

07:16how do they compare to this and what do they look like here and all this and that?

07:20I know that was absolutely the case for you, Clint. You watched some games and it spoke to you about

07:29C.J. Stroud. It's easy for me. I watch all these games through a Texans lens,

07:35whether it's a similar scheme or it's just the better quarterbacks in the game or it's an

07:42opponent that the Texans are going to play. It's impossible for me to watch any game that's not

07:48watching it through the Texans lens. I do think there's one thing that really stuck out to me.

07:53I think I'm guilty of it. I damn sure know that the fan base overall in general is guilty of it.

08:02The expectations for C.J. Stroud. As I watch these guys play,

08:10C.J. ain't in the same. He's never been and never will be in the same.

08:17You're saying never will be?

08:21I'm talking about when you watch Pat Mahomes play football and you watch Josh Allen play football.

08:30The way that those guys play, it is a win at all costs. They're winning as much with their feet as

08:37they are their arm. In those moments when they're winning with their feet, they're cool, calm,

08:41collected. Given the moment to make a last second drive or to make a run for a first downer,

08:49these guys are doing it so effortlessly that it's ridiculous.

08:53But you don't think C.J. is in his own way? He's not their same player,

08:57but you don't believe that about Burrow, do you?

08:59No. I think the Burrow is a good comp to C.J., but when you look at the scheme that Burrow's in

09:08and the guys that he's played with and how they play offensive football, I still think

09:12C.J.'s not that guy. I've talked about this in breaking C.J. Stroud down. I firmly believe that

09:20this is the only way C.J. Stroud is elite in this league. Tom Brady. It's the only way.

09:25I watch those guys play. I watch those guys put their team on their back and how they do it.

09:31C.J. ain't doing that.

09:33We've watched C.J. put his team on his back in a different way, but it doesn't look like that.

09:38No, it definitely don't look like that.

09:41No, I know.

09:41These guys are doing it with their legs and their feet, and they're doing it for multiple years.

09:46I'm just saying the way that C.J. Stroud is an elite quarterback in this league is

09:57the same way that Brady was an elite quarterback in this league. We've talked about it stylistically

10:02of how they won last year and juggling the aggressive versus Tom Brady style this year.

10:10That is who C.J. Stroud is. We've been talking about this. C.J.'s going to become this

10:17quarterback that is similar to those guys, and maybe not the downhill run game that Josh Allen

10:23brings to the table, but just affect the game that way. It's not. I watched these games this

10:30weekend. I'm like, who are we fooling? Is it really those two that stuck out to you?

10:34Josh Allen and Mahomes are just from a skill set, just a complete different talent.

10:42Stafford, I guess you've got to throw that in there, too.

10:46Stafford's a lot like the Joe Burrow, where it's just the constant driving the football into

10:51coverage. You don't think C.J. can get to that? No, it's Tom Brady. It's Tom Brady, period,

10:59point blank. I know a lot of people, they're going to look at that as a negative. It's not

11:03a negative. That is how C.J. Stroud is built to win, on time, on schedule, calculated risk,

11:14from the pocket, out thinking other people. You watch these other guys, man. I just don't see

11:22how many times we're going to watch Pat Mahomes in a final minute of a game, whether he's driving

11:27to put a game away, or he's driving to kick a field goal to win it, or score a touchdown to win

11:31it. His legs are as much of a factor as his arm is. Whether he's running for first downs, or he's

11:36scrambling, keeping plays alive, and then dumping the ball down like he did yesterday to Travis

11:40Kelsey, and starting to get the first down so that they can kick a field goal with no time on the

11:44clock. I don't believe that's the route that C.J. Stroud takes in this league. I think I've been

11:55open to consider, well, who's he going to be? Where's he going to fit? I think he is Tom Brady.

12:05He's got to win. The best C.J. Stroud is the Tom Brady mole, period.

12:14I think it's too early to go with it. I'll defer to you as you are the, what did he say,

12:22Tyler? The top five coach in the country. I'll defer to you. I think it's too early to make

12:30the thought. When I look at him, and I think he can be Burrow. Burrow doesn't use his legs like,

12:38I mean, Josh is so eloquently put by the Rams coach, Sean McVay. He's an alien, and so is Mahomes.

12:48I don't know that he could use, but Joe Burrow at times uses his legs. Trust me, he ripped my

12:55heart out with his legs before. He uses his legs to get key first downs. I think it's just too

13:00early to say C.J. can't get to that nature. I said it, I'll be clear. When I'm, stylistically,

13:12I think Burrow and Stroud are very similar and can be very similar. The difference is

13:17Burrow is overly aggressive in vertical shots and just pressure. They are going to throw it

13:2382 times a game. That's just who they've been since he's been there.

13:27And you don't think that's C.J.?

13:29No, I don't. I know it's not this system, so we'll never know unless he's there.

13:35Are they in the same system?

13:39The tree, yes. That is, to me, a more vertical, aggressive approach with those two receivers he

13:46has. And this one right here, it has to be a little bit more. My point is, I think Brady is

13:53the mold where C.J. is elite in this league and wins Super Bowls in this league. I sit around and

13:59watch these other guys play, and I'm like, C.J. ain't doing those things.

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