- 11 hours ago
CJ Stroud takes the field for the first time since his concussion — how did he look? ITL dives in.
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00:00C.J. Stroud, returning to football after missing three,
00:03count them, three football games,
00:05if you don't include the game that he was knocked out of with that concussion.
00:08And so, especially with Davis Mills handling things well,
00:11the team going 3-0 while he was starting,
00:14there was a lot of conversations, if you might remember.
00:16It kind of got scary on Wednesday, right?
00:18Oh, yeah.
00:19It did.
00:20It did a little bit.
00:20It was like, wait, he still didn't clear protocol?
00:22Still didn't clear, but he did clear.
00:23He got out there on the field.
00:24So let's talk about it.
00:25How did C.J. look to you?
00:26What did it feel like watching him play?
00:287-1-3-5-7-2-4-6-10.
00:31How did it feel like to you?
00:32Because I was relaying this earlier.
00:35The first quarter, it ended up being rust,
00:39and it was clear that it was rust,
00:41and that's what C.J. talked about afterwards.
00:43He had to knock some off.
00:44All the way it felt like it was rust?
00:45I think some of the stuff definitely felt right rust.
00:47There were some things that made me kind of raise an eyebrow.
00:49Well, the bad throws, that could be interpreted either way.
00:53Including the Cam Bynum interception, where he just air mails.
00:58He just sailed it.
00:58Xavier Hutchinson.
00:59Yeah, he just sailed it.
01:00And there was one, I think, low and to the right to Nico.
01:05Anyway, off target early.
01:07Yeah.
01:07And then there was the organization at the line of scrimmage,
01:10which I feel like maybe, as you pointed out,
01:12that could be put on him a little bit.
01:14And I was just like, oh, no.
01:16You know?
01:17Oh, no, no.
01:18Prepare for the Davis Mills truthers.
01:21One of which was sitting next to me.
01:23One of whom was sitting next to me.
01:24Man, they were gearing up, man.
01:25Janza Davis Mills truthers?
01:26No, she was in the moment.
01:28In the moment, as I was saying, like, at the start, in that game.
01:30Oh, that's just fans being reactionary, right?
01:31And I texted to you, just flat out, out of the clear blue, he sucks.
01:35And I was like, what?
01:37I was like, what?
01:39What have they been talking about?
01:40You heard me.
01:41You heard me.
01:41What have they been talking about in the teacher's lounge over at the school?
01:44I was like, he sucks?
01:46That came out of nowhere.
01:47And then, of course, and then the third quarter, she was like, okay,
01:49maybe he doesn't suck.
01:50Good.
01:51Sometimes you need that clarity.
01:52I see 2-8-1, this is what I was thinking of.
01:54C.J. Stroud throwing that interception was him trying to force a big play.
01:57That was what made me raise an eyebrow.
01:59Because one of the things that I thought you could attribute to Davis Mills
02:02was just kind of going with the flow of what the offense is
02:05and embrace of what Nick Caley and, I believe, D'Amico Ryans want from this offense,
02:11which is just don't ask for too much.
02:15Death by 1,000 cuts.
02:16No.
02:16And non-derogatory, right, in a congratulatory way.
02:20Sometimes it feels like, and we've noted this,
02:22C.J. Stroud, when he talks about the status of this offense being something like
02:27a death by 1,000 cuts just trying to make the right read,
02:30sometimes it felt like he was longing for throwing the football deep.
02:33And sometimes it felt like he was being somewhat derogatory to the idea of,
02:36hey, you just take these shots.
02:37And so early on in the game, we're seeing them, I mean, in the first couple of drives,
02:42throwing the ball deep to Anico Collins, who's double-covered and stuff.
02:45It almost felt, I almost asked myself, because I know Nick Caley's going to call these plays, right?
02:50But in my head, I was like, how much of that is C.J. Stroud putting his thumb on the scale
02:54either explicitly or implicitly, hey, I want to drive the ball downfield.
02:58And it didn't, it wasn't working, and it honestly caused some bad plays.
03:02And I was like, is he embracing this?
03:04But it felt like as the game went on, he did settle into just taking what was there for him.
03:09Sometimes to the point where I was like, oh, is he doing too much to take underneath
03:12and just throw it to Dalton Schultz as opposed to find something in the intermediate?
03:15But he found that level as it went along.
03:17And so maybe that was a re-acclimation.
03:19But also, C.J. Stroud talking after this game, it did sound like,
03:23it sounded a little different from C.J. from previous,
03:25where we talked about him finding a way to embrace this offense.
03:28It felt like he took another step in embracing what this offense is desired to be.
03:31It really did.
03:31And just to answer the question of what you thought of C.J. Stroud,
03:36early on, as we've talked about, I think he reached a point where he just kind of,
03:40on the sideline or whatever, he just kind of had to reset.
03:44I think early in the game, and I don't know how much of this you guys noticed,
03:49even his facial expressions and body language kind of reverted to the Stroud
03:54that was struggling earlier in the year.
03:56And then that was gone.
03:57So he almost had to, like, it looked like he was trying to do too much,
04:01as you kind of pointed out there.
04:02He was a little frustrated, body language, that whole thing.
04:06And then at some point, he just sort of reset and said, oh, yeah.
04:10We need to do this a particular way, and I will still get my shots.
04:15He did.
04:16So however you want to describe that, whether it's knocking off the rust
04:20or just sort of like he had a revelation, he did settle in.
04:27And I thought he had a – I'm not even going to say, you know, good.
04:29I thought he had a very good game, all things considered.
04:31Matt Ryan, who was on – he's on the CBS set.
04:34That was basically his – he thought that C.J. Stroud was fantastic
04:37in the way that he played what was necessary for the offense.
04:40I'm kind of opining on top of what he said.
04:42But he basically got to the point where he was like, if they play like this
04:46and if he continues to play like this, they can go to the playoffs
04:48and make some noise, right, which obviously is what ultimately everybody wants.
04:52This was C.J. Stroud talking about – he was asked about if he felt like
04:56the offense has gotten better.
04:57And this is something pointing to the idea of embracing the offense for me.
05:00Yeah, I definitely think the offense as a whole has gotten better.
05:03You know, we found our identity, I feel, and I think, you know,
05:06we're starting to play well together.
05:08You know, it's a lot of new guys playing together this year.
05:10So we're starting to get that chemistry down and that connection.
05:13And you can see it, you know, playing and play out, you know, route detail
05:17and, you know, play calls and me getting to play in, organization of the, you know,
05:21formations and everything like that.
05:23So I think, you know, we're doing a better job at that.
05:25And then, you know, the execution has picked up.
05:28A couple of things there.
05:29What is the identity?
05:30I said it earlier, and I'm not going to backtrack off of this because I do mean it
05:33in a complimentary way as much as it doesn't sound like this, like it is.
05:37Don't screw up.
05:38Don't screw it up.
05:39Oh, man.
05:39Hate, hate, hate.
05:40No, no, it's not hate.
05:41Hate, hate.
05:42This is the mantra.
05:43This is what they would – just don't screw it up.
05:46Your defense is awesome.
05:47Your defense can win a championship.
05:49If you don't screw it up, and they were really good the last three quarters,
05:53two and a half quarters, you're going to have a good offense.
05:56And then the second part, the second level to what he did.
05:57Before you get to the second level, can I add something here?
05:59Because I do have a number that I – or a number, some numbers.
06:03Because I do think that this is backed by the statistics of it.
06:06The line demarcation being 10 yards, air yards, right, going in the air.
06:10When CJ threw under 10 yards, 16 of 19, 162 yards, and that was seven and a half percentage points higher than expected,
06:20completion percentage-wise.
06:23Past 10 yards in the air, six for 14, 114 yards.
06:27And that was about a one percentage point below expectation on completion percentage.
06:33There it is, right, very basically, right?
06:35The idea is this thing works a lot better if you can kind of use your short area and, you know, allow that build.
06:43And I think that that – getting 114 yards deep is still not a bad thing,
06:47but I think that the completion percentage looks better if you allow the short to open up the long.
06:52And I think that this game saw him kind of resettle back into that.
06:56Because I think we've seen him kind of do that earlier on in the season.
06:58I think he resettled into that during the course of this game, embracing it.
07:02So I'm actually – while I was joking, the idea of you hate –
07:05It really –
07:06Don't mess it up.
07:07With as much respect and love as I can muster, that is their identity.
07:12Don't screw it up.
07:13You're good if you don't screw it up offensively.
07:15And then the second part real quick that I think is key, and this is very big,
07:20it's a word that can cause a lot of eye rolls and be called a cliché and all that.
07:26But he said chemistry.
07:27He said we're finding a chemistry.
07:29That includes offensive line, which, again, a mind-blowing stat.
07:34It's the first time all year that he started the same five guys in the same five places
07:38in back-to-back games all year.
07:41But there's also something else that goes with that.
07:43Woody Marks is your running back.
07:45You know, they put him out there on one leg, man.
07:47That's all you need to know about the confidence and what they want out of Woody Marks.
07:52And then two other players that were very, very big.
07:54Dalton Schultz and Jaden Higgins, ladies and gentlemen, they're finding that chemistry
08:00with all these guys.
08:01Yeah, the Jaden Higgins thing is interesting there.
08:03I think that Dalton Schultz was also very interesting to me.
08:07The number was somewhere around like 43, I think, over under Dalton Schultz yards.
08:15And I would have imagined, especially over the last few weeks, that that would have been
08:20under that number because of the way that Davis Mills is.
08:24I think that CJ very much clearly has his favorites.
08:27Ten targets for Nico Collins, eight targets for Dalton Schultz.
08:31Like, in getting all those yards, it went back up.
08:34But I do appreciate what you're saying here is that Jaden Higgins, five receptions on five
08:39targets for 65 yards.
08:40That taking up is good because we saw the jump in Higgins finding his place in the offense
08:45under Davis Mills.
08:46And I was like, oh, I thought this was kind of an offensive thing.
08:49And it feels like we kind of split the difference between is CJ just going to go back to what
08:54he did or is he going to implement Jaden Higgins more to this offense?
08:57And I feel like we kind of split the difference.
08:58He did go back to getting the ball to Nico.
09:00Him and Dalton have an incredible connection.
09:04Even Dalton, was it a dropped pass or something that he had?
09:08And he just, you know, you see the picture and he's just tapping Dalton on the helmet like,
09:13hey, don't worry about it, big dog.
09:14Like, they have a genuine affinity for each other.
09:17And you see it.
09:17It shows up on the stat sheet.
09:19But then Hutchinson gets five targets.
09:22That very much felt like a CJ going to his guys.
09:24But then Higgins finding more in this offense.
09:27I did find that encouraging to continue to build towards an offense that looks like it
09:31can handle what it's asked to handle.
09:33Yeah, they have a chemistry.
09:34And it starts with the offensive line and what he marks.
09:38But the receivers, especially Higgins, five catches on five targets was big for him.
09:43Now, the bad thing, we are back in the place where Jalen Noel, one of the most, if not the
09:47most explosive dude on this offense.
09:49And I know that sounds crazy looking at Nico Collins, but you've seen what he's done when
09:52he's gotten the ball.
09:53One target, no catches.
09:55Right?
09:55And there's been instances and opportunities for him.
09:58Christian Kirk.
09:58One target, no catches.
10:00I mean, Christian Kirk got a couple in there.
10:01That was cool.
10:02But, I mean, where's Jalen Noel at, man?
10:05You know what I mean?
10:06Like, where's Jalen Noel at?
10:07And that's the thing that is frustrating.
10:09And I think that that is some of the CJ going back to the guys that he's used to.
10:12But maybe he's just not, you know, that in this offense in terms of from scrimmage.
10:17You know, maybe they've just decided he's going to be a little bit player, return guy, and all
10:23that.
10:23I thought that this offense, you know, really started to be exactly what they wanted it
10:29to be.
10:29And they started with CJ Stroud, again, just sort of resetting, embracing what, you know,
10:35what this offense is.
10:36You know, it's not the sexiest thing in the world because think about what we thought going
10:41into last season, you know, going into the 2024 season.
10:46We thought it was going to be lighting it up.
10:48The defense was going to be good.
10:50It was going to be CJ coming off that rookie year, throwing it everywhere.
10:53They've completely changed what CJ is.
10:55And I think it's working.
10:56And I think that he, again, I think the big thing for me with CJ was it feels like he
11:01is embracing.
11:02One of the things is, you know, someone, someone on the text line says he's holding the ball
11:05too long.
11:06And I disagree with that as an assertion, especially because, and this is more anecdotal.
11:11Once you saw him kind of miss some shots deep and you saw him kind of try and reel it
11:15in, he had some three-step drops where he's fading as he's throwing the football, like
11:19not even, not even hitting his third step.
11:22He's fading, throwing the football to get it out to Nico Collins quickly on a slant to get
11:26the ball out to the intended receiver in that moment.
11:29And it's like, he's so dialed into, I need to get this ball out that he's not even hitting
11:33the top of his drop and then letting that thing go.
11:36And so I think that CJ is finding that, but I'm going to go and actually look at the time
11:41to throw this week to make sure that I get this right.
11:44But it felt like as the game went along, the time to throw was good.
11:48And he felt like he was trusting his offensive line.
11:50Yes.
11:51Say for maybe one or two times where he does try and backtrack out one of those understandable
11:57because the blitz is immediate and maybe you go throw the football away.
12:00But I also go, if, if the blitz is there under a second, how, how fair is it to expect you
12:05to just dirt it immediately?
12:06I don't know.
12:07But there was one instance where he takes a sack because he runs out back and he does
12:10not help his tackles.
12:11Outside of that, he trusted that pocket a lot better than at times he had earlier on in the
12:17season.
12:17And we have to give him a ton of credit just because this is not what he expected.
12:21As I mentioned, you know, going into last season, this is not how he's wired.
12:25This is not what he's, you know, used to, you know, he wants to be able to, to create plays
12:31to throw the ball downfield, trust the receiver, 50, 50 balls, all that stuff.
12:36He's rewired himself and, and there, he deserves a lot of credit for that.
12:39Is this the CJ you want going forward though?
12:43Like even past this year, do you want this type of CJ Stroud?
12:47The answer is no, I don't, I'd rather see the CJ.
12:51I just, because I'm happy, I'm happy CJ kind of growing into this, um, different CJ or this
12:57different offense, but I'm, I can't forget what he did in his rookie year and I feel like
13:02it's still there.
13:03I'm glad you brought that up because this is not what we expected.
13:06It's not his, him at his best in terms of being awe inspiring and maybe an MVP candidate
13:12and all that.
13:13Yeah.
13:14I do want to see more of that.
13:15I just don't think we're going to it.
13:17Yeah.
13:17This year we ain't going to see it, but it kind of bothered me a little bit when you kept
13:21saying, don't screw it up.
13:22Don't screw it up.
13:23I'm like, that's what you say to Davis Mills.
13:25I understand.
13:25That's what you say to those type of quarterbacks.
13:28CJ ain't that type of quarterback.
13:29No, he's not.
13:30And I want to see that CJ.
13:31We're not going to, and I think you got to give him credit for embracing that role.
13:35And at least we're not going to this year.
13:38I mean, maybe there's going to be some tweaks and some, you know, obviously personnel decisions,
13:42et cetera.
13:43But I think, you know, he deserves a lot of credit for being able to embrace something
13:46that he's not.
13:47Yeah.
13:48The easy, the easy answer to your question is no, this isn't quite the CJ that I want
13:51to see.
13:52Even within the idea of a Patriots offense and all those things, what we were talking about
13:58as I guess maybe the high water mark or the platonic offense is being able to, you know,
14:03deal and survey and slice up a defense, which I don't think is fully what we've gotten an
14:09opportunity to see for him.
14:10I don't know how much of that is just offense in general in the NFL is kind of, it's kind
14:13of down this year, but I was hoping to see a little bit more of that.
14:17I think that there's still room for that to happen, but it does not feel like that's
14:20necessarily this year.
14:20It feels like it is more of him embracing this and just quick passing in the ball out and,
14:25you know, finding the moments, picking the moments in some ways.
14:28But I will say there were still moments where you had CJ Stroud making plays.
14:32You see him boot out with Liatu Latu, you know, just bearing down on him and he calm.
14:39At that moment, I'm like, why are we arguing about Davis Mills when I seen him make them
14:44throws?
14:44Yeah, Latu bearing down.
14:46He's got that in him, makes a pass to Cade Stover first down in a circumstance that very
14:49well could have been to throw the football away or take a sack.
14:52CJ's still making those plays.
14:53It's still within him and I think that that's why I was encouraged by him seemingly embracing
14:57the idea because he's like, all right, we can do this in order to get the win and that's
15:00what we need to do.
15:01And I appreciate that he got to that place, but I feel good about him being able to do
15:05what's needed to do in this.
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