- 2 days ago
Did C.J. Stroud give us a hint at the type of offense he really wants to run moving forward? ITL breaks down what stood out and what it could mean for the Texans’ offensive direction.
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00:00Have you also ridden the wave of C.J. Stroud feelings and emotions over the last how many hours and how many days?
00:07Yeah, who hasn't?
00:08Just because, you know, we all feel, as we've been talking about, you know, a lot of people are out on him.
00:13And then the speculation was, you know, is it damaged goods now moving forward for however long or whatever.
00:21Then you hear Nick Casario yesterday, you know, in our office we never even thought about thinking that our offense is a concern.
00:30Et cetera, et cetera.
00:30I mean, the wave of emotions, the wave of thoughts on this is all up and down.
00:36However, after listening to Nick Casario yesterday, I even wondered more about something that C.J. Stroud said.
00:45I guess it was Monday or Tuesday.
00:48I forget now.
00:49Monday.
00:49Monday.
00:49Because I still vividly remember being like, wait, C.J. talked on a Monday?
00:53I said, let me get this on out the way.
00:55He's like, I heard y'all talking.
00:56Let me come speak to you.
00:57Yeah.
00:58Yeah, so I go back to it, and we're going to hear it here in a second.
01:01But so yesterday, the company line basically was no concerns about the offense.
01:09Nick Caley's coming back.
01:10We know the story.
01:12All right?
01:12Safe to assume Nick Caley was coming back.
01:15Yeah, yeah.
01:15It was almost the exact verbiage.
01:17Something along those lines.
01:19But, you know, so we all heard that.
01:21And then I go back to Monday, and I want you to listen to this and just ask yourself the question after you hear it, is everyone in on this?
01:31I think just the turnover career, especially, like, you know, the timely turnovers, you know, where, you know, like I told y'all before, I've really, you know, been on some great teams, you know, my whole career, where a lot of them were, you know, offensive droving, you know, and like, you know, playing for Coach Day, where, you know, we're taking shots.
01:51And then, you know, like, being on this team, you know, where, you know, we're more full everywhere, you know, where it's offense, defense, and special teams, where, you know, defense is, you know, is making a bunch of plays.
02:02So, you know, this year was a step for me where, like, I didn't have to be Superman all the time, and I'm still growing in that, you know what I'm saying?
02:08So, you know, I appreciate my teammates for taking a lot of pressure, you know, off of my plate.
02:13But also, you know, they do know that I can make those plays.
02:15So, you know, I'm appreciative of that, of them having that perspective.
02:19And I feel like I've grown, you know, in that way of, like, you know, taking what's there, you know, in ways where, you know, I would have taken a shot there or just, you know, take care of the ball some other ways.
02:29But, you know, I've just seen some growth in my footwork, you know, in the pocket, you know, trusting my guys, staying in the pocket, not just running around, you know, but, you know, staying strong and firm.
02:39So, I think I made a step in that area as well.
02:42But, you know, always things are improving, and I'll do that.
02:45So, in the middle there, he went himself.
02:49I mean, it wasn't necessarily about the question, but he went himself to the great teams that he's played on.
02:54And he said these things.
02:56Offensive driven.
02:58Brought up Ryan Day by name, Coach Day.
03:01Sure.
03:02Taking shots.
03:03I can make those plays.
03:06C.J. Stroud's words.
03:07Also, in addition to that, the idea of, like, a more full, well-rounded, you know, attack with both offensive.
03:15So, offensive driven, like, you know, Ryan Day brings him up, taking shots, I can make those plays.
03:20And then you have the general manager talking about the things that he talked about yesterday.
03:24Are we still sure that, you know, they're not force-feeding this down C.J. Stroud's throat, maybe reluctantly?
03:31He said he's grown.
03:32I've taken some strides, et cetera.
03:33I get it.
03:34You know, the team's winning.
03:35You know, he wants to do the best.
03:37But then our latest example was him trying to be offensive driven and making plays, et cetera.
03:42Yeah, I can hear where you're coming from.
03:44I will say, and maybe this is leading the witness somewhat on your part, which, you know, it'd be like that sometimes.
03:51That's why we have the Judge John Lopez segment.
03:53But there did sound like there was a little longing in his voice talking about, you know, having an offensive driven.
04:00But in the same way, I think I could also view it from, you know, a recognition point for him where he goes, that's not what's being asked of me.
04:09And I'm having to find my way to a different way of thinking, a different way of playing.
04:14And I'm working through that, right?
04:15I think that that was the predominant kind of thought that I had when I first heard it.
04:20The idea that, OK, I'm recognizing the ways in which the way the mindset that I had previously had about the way to play football, especially a quarterback with these offensive styles that I play is not what I'm being asked.
04:32And I still need to make strides in fitting myself to what this is.
04:37Now, is that excuse making as well is a question to be asked where he's like, this is the reason why I've been maybe it looks uncomfortable.
04:46I'm still working and you have to understand where I'm what the starting point was.
04:49Maybe that's more of it.
04:51But if you are right in what it feels like the is able, that would be frustrating that they have not been able to find that middle ground.
05:00But I guess it's frustrating either way, whether it's like, hey, I'm still trying to find my way to that.
05:04Man, it's a whole football season where why haven't you been able to find your way into this place where we're protecting you?
05:12We're having other people take on some of the responsibility and you stay within this place and don't get yourself out of it.
05:17Yeah. Look, CJ Stroud is not going to sit up there and say, boy, this is this is crap.
05:23You know, I'd rather do this.
05:24He was very careful to talk about buying into what the Texans are doing and and the growth and all that.
05:32He likes giving the right answer, doesn't he?
05:33Yeah. He was very careful with his words, but it's just in the midst of that, he, you know, he brought up.
05:37Yeah. But, you know, you know, this is what I'm used to.
05:40This is what I've been.
05:41So I just felt like this was kind of as close to it as he would get to telling us, you know, what he really wants.
05:48But also, you know, maybe reluctantly understanding what they're doing, but reluctantly and that and that's why I'm sitting here going.
05:59Yeah, they're saying this. It's working. It's good.
06:02No offensive problems. Nick Caley's probably going to come back.
06:05Like, are we sure that C.J. Stroud is like, yeah, let's go, you know?
06:09And this is where you can also very much go back to other things that Nick Asario said, not just in, hey, like, you know, we have offensive talent or whatever.
06:17This the quote that jumped out was a quarterbacks for number one responsibility is protecting the football.
06:24In essence, that's not an exact quote. I'll have to go back to my notes.
06:28But in essence, that was one of the big things that jumped out, which almost again, well, not almost again, puts the onus on this.
06:35This is what we ask of you. Do not feel the need to jump out of it.
06:39And the question that I've been kind of pondering on over the last 24 hours, Lopez, is does this call into question Houston's development and their ability to develop quarterback?
06:48Because, I mean, there's people that are like C.J. ain't it.
06:50I think I've been very, very loud on the idea of I believe strongly that circumstances, situation matters when we talk about quarterbacks.
07:00Oftentimes we isolate too much the individual from the circumstance that is around them that ultimately are inputs into what that individual becomes.
07:11And we all know that we appreciate and we liked what C.J. Stroud was as a rookie.
07:15Two years later, there's people that are looking at C.J. and saying he is not it, he is broken, so on and so forth.
07:22How much responsibility does the organization hold for you are entrusted with a talent like C.J. Stroud that has taken number two overall that also shows at the NFL level that he can do things like protect the football, like make those plays.
07:35And now two years later, it feels like you're not getting that, at least in the most important moments at the end of the season.
07:41How much responsibility does the organization hold in what feels like a lack of development for the quarterback?
07:47The vast majority.
07:49You know, you are, you hit the nail on the head.
07:51You know, you draft this guy because of what you think he can do and become.
07:55So then your job becomes doing everything possible, whether it's personnel or coaches, to surround him and let him reach that goal.
08:03No, I think I'll put a percentage on it, you know, if I had to, it'd be 80, 80, 80% on the organization.
08:11I mean, you're drafting a guy number two.
08:12Lopez not here for personal responsibility.
08:1520%.
08:15You know, he's got the, you got him.
08:18He's, he's, he's ready.
08:19He's got the talent.
08:20He's got the skill.
08:20He's got the resume.
08:22All right.
08:22Now it's on you.
08:23You know, now it's on you.
08:24And then I also think it speaks to what we're talking about here.
08:27You bring in Nick Cayley and, and I'm not trying to bash him.
08:31I think this is accurate.
08:32Who was a quote unquote tight ends coach for Sean McVay, but his vast majority of his experience has been tight ends, you know, line play, that kind of thing.
08:42Is that the guy when you've got, you know, some, some, some true quarterback whispers out there that have spent their entire lives with quarterbacks that can call plays and be an offensive coordinator.
08:52We saw what the LA chargers just did, you know, with, with Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert.
08:58I mean, that, that is, that is Jim Harbaugh saying, we gotta, we gotta get somebody in here that can absolutely fix this.
09:06We saw what Liam Cohen did.
09:08And that, that's, that is a belief that permeates the NFL.
09:10The quarterback is not the entirety of the team, but they carry a lot of responsibility and they have the ball so much that they have an outsized impact in this.
09:19And you want to make sure that you put them in the best opportunity to succeed.
09:23And you've seen the ways in which that goes well, particularly in this year, where you cater at least some of what you're doing towards make getting the best out of the quarterback.
09:32I think that some of the things that the Texans do as an organization where they zig where others zag ends up being useful.
09:39I'm intrigued on thinking more about what this mentality is.
09:42That's very clearly opposite that, right?
09:44Nick Casario laid it out pretty clearly.
09:46The idea that, Hey man, it's more about the full team construct.
09:50We're not, we're not.
09:51And I'm putting words in his mouth here.
09:53So I want to be, I want to be, okay, go ahead.
09:56The most important statistic is winning games.
09:58Shout out to Figgy.
10:00We had a good enough team to win any game we played.
10:03Taking care of the football is the single most important stat to winning football.
10:06That's the most important stat.
10:08Putting it on the team.
10:09We have to take care of the football, but of course it starts with the quarterback.
10:12And what's funny about that is I hear, I see you on the text line on the YouTube page saying there's, there feels like there's a mental thing with CJ Stroud that is outside of the purview of the development of the team.
10:24But I think that what's, what's insightful for me is going back to what Nick Caley brought to the table.
10:28What, what gave me a level of interest in what he was going to do in that.
10:33It was that he said, we're going to take the talents of what we have and fit what we do to that.
10:37And this feels like at an organizational level, kind of somewhat of a dismissal of that.
10:43Yes.
10:44I think it comes down to which came first, you know, the proverbial chicken and egg, his lack of confidence and, and being sort of shaken, if not broken,
10:53or putting him in an offense under an offensive coordinator, that is not necessarily the best for him to not be that.
11:01You know what I mean?
11:02And ultimately there's still very much the responsibility of managing the turnovers.
11:07Like that's, it just, it just can't be that.
11:10But the feel and I look, I, I think that there's a better split, maybe a more equitable split of responsibility here for CJ Stroud.
11:18We're absolutely, this is what you're asked and whether you, whether you want to do it this way or not, you cannot let everyone down on your team.
11:26And I mean, if we want to grandstand the city and all the people who had emotionally invested in this team, you cannot let them down by free freelancing and overs that ultimately doom your team.
11:37But I do think that there is, there is a question as to why you, your quarterback gets to a place where they, where he feels like he has to step outside of the bounds of what you do.
11:45Yeah. Is it, uh, no, no, clearly this is not taking any, uh, you know, responsibility off of CJ Stroud for what he did in new England and really Pittsburgh as well.
11:56Those were bad decisions. And then he ended up looking broken, but again, you know, this is something that maybe has been festering.
12:03Yeah. You know, maybe, maybe just sort of, uh, wanting to do more wishing they would allow him to do more.
12:09And the only thing that, cause these things are never so cut and dry for me, at least maybe I just overcomplicate things. That's a possibility. Um, but okay.
12:19If this is the case or whatever, and maybe CJ Stroud is just in a place where the mentality is not going to get to a place where he's willing to step in and just be somebody who protects the football and just kind of goes with the system.
12:31Then the way that they're going about things where it feels like, Hey, this is kind of just going to be what we do again.
12:36And we're going to ask that everyone just perfects the way that they go about the execution.
12:41Is that a fool's errand to some degree?
12:43Yeah.
12:43That's a question that comes up and I don't, I'm not comfortable that the answer is not 100%.
12:47No, not a fool's errand. There, there's a possibility in there. And I don't like that.
12:50At least not. I don't feel like I like that being an onlooker of this team, covering this team, investing in this team.
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