00:00What does this offseason, speaking of which, what does this offseason for the Texans now mean for C.J. Stroud?
00:06Because as we talked about earlier, I mean, I really like what they've done this offseason.
00:10And now you look at Houston, they improve this offensive line.
00:14They go out, they get a running back for you, David Montgomery.
00:18They even added a tight end the other day with a similar last name, Foster Moreau.
00:23And then you still have your offensive coordinator coming back.
00:26You have some stability with your play caller for the second straight year.
00:29And shoot, Gerard Johnson's gone.
00:32It seemed like, just from the outside looking in, that, I don't know, there was some sort of misconnect or
00:37some sort of issue there.
00:38The Texans seemed like they wanted to make a change.
00:41They obviously did, eventually, the quarterback coach.
00:43And so now you even have that going for you if you're C.J. Stroud.
00:47So a lot of good things, it seems, this offseason for the quarterback.
00:50But what does that now mean for Stroud in 2026?
00:52It's almost kind of like a careful what you wish for, where he got these upgrades, seemingly.
00:59On paper, this offseason.
01:01We'll see if that plays out.
01:02But now it kind of ramps up the pressure even more on the quarterback where it's like, okay, how many
01:07excuses are left now?
01:08Now it just kind of falls at your feet if you're C.J. Stroud.
01:10Do you think the pressure, if it's even possible, when you talk about a quarterback and this quarterback here for
01:15the Texans,
01:15do you think the pressure is now even greater on Stroud this season based off of what the Texans have
01:20done this offseason?
01:21I think it's back-to-back seasons, back-to-back offseasons where either what the Texans are doing or are
01:31not doing in the offseason,
01:33or even in this case how the season ended, put some level of pressure or some increased pressure, I should
01:40say,
01:40some increased pressure on C.J. Stroud.
01:43So last year it was the firing of the offensive coordinator and, to a lesser degree, the offensive line coach,
01:49but firing the offensive coordinator, changing the offense,
01:54and then also specifically making the offense one where he has much more control at the line of scrimmage, right?
02:01Clint's talked about this a lot.
02:02Like, this was a big change in the offense, both learning new terminology and a new system
02:09and having more on your plate at your position.
02:13So that was the big thing.
02:15And it was something that he supposedly wanted, something that he lobbied for, something that he got.
02:20And we saw that last year's offense, for a number of reasons, just wasn't that good.
02:26Okay?
02:27So that's last offseason.
02:29And I thought there was some pressure on him, given, hey, okay, who are we changing the offensive coordinator for?
02:36Who are we changing the offense itself for?
02:40Why are we empowering you as the quarterback?
02:42It's all because we do want to give you more responsibility, right?
02:47So I thought you could look at it last offseason from that perspective.
02:52This offseason, I think more than anything because of how the season ended, right?
02:57Like, just the falling flat on your face type of ending of the season, to me, is going to be
03:05more of a –
03:07and then, of course, the timing of the calendar, right?
03:09Contract year.
03:10That's going to be more of a pressure cooker than anything that's going on with the Texans personnel-wise in
03:16the offseason.
03:17But it just highlights it, right?
03:19It's like, okay, so what are you going to do to maximize the final year of C.J. Stroud's rookie
03:27deal in a year where you can make the case that –
03:32and I actually don't make this case, but I know a lot of people do – that he regressed over
03:36the last couple of years.
03:38I think that's a little bit overplayed, but I get where they're coming from, especially given how the season ended.
03:42It's hard to argue with that.
03:44So, okay, so now, to me, all of that weighed together definitely puts increased pressure on him.
03:52And then what do they do?
03:54What do they make their main priorities?
03:56The offensive line.
03:57Go get Wyatt Teller.
03:59Go get Braden Smith.
04:00Bring back the best offensive lineman that they had – that they didn't trade away, I guess, since they did
04:06trade Titus Howard.
04:06But they bring back their best free agent offensive lineman in Ed Ingram and Trent Brown, right?
04:13So, it's all – I don't think it's all just for C.J. Stroud, but all of it is to
04:18address the offense that he is the leader of.
04:21So, yeah, I think there's clear increased pressure even before these moves, but especially with the moves.
04:28The moves are about to increase pressure on C.J. Stroud.
04:33You know, like, offense hasn't been good.
04:35We got a quarterback that we might – are going to pay $55, $60 million a year, but we haven't
04:41had a good offense in two years.
04:44So, how do we recreate that?
04:46How do we do that?
04:47Everything from there is about that.
04:49Do you think anyone in the organization or on the roster will have more pressure on them this year than
04:54C.J. Stroud, or would he be clear number one on the list?
04:56Oh, no.
04:57No way.
04:58No way.
04:59Yeah, no.
05:00He's number one on the list.
05:03And I think pretty comfortably number one.
05:06And I think – I would say it's Nick Casario after that.
05:09Ooh, interesting.
05:11I would say it's Nick Casario after that because he's the one that puts it all together, right?
05:14I mean, everybody else has been pretty good.
05:17You know, even Casario himself has been pretty good outside of this one thing.
05:22I compared on a podcast to, like, you know, if you were like in politics, they talk about a single
05:29-issue voter.
05:30You could be that with Nick Casario.
05:32You could just, like, boil down how much you care about Nick Casario's performance to a single issue, right?
05:38He might check off the boxes on everything else, but this one issue of the offensive line, pass or fail,
05:45period.
05:46Everything else almost doesn't matter.
05:47Pass or fail when it comes down to it.
05:49So, I'm almost single-issue voter now on Nick Casario in that way.
05:54But, no, it's C.J. Stroud.
05:57C.J. Stroud comfortably.
05:58Nick Casario after that.
06:00And I think he's pretty comfortable at two.
06:02And then there's probably some distance there before you start getting to, you know, the D'Amico-Nick-Cayley combination.
06:10You know, I think that's the pecking order for most pressure going into this season.
06:16Yeah, I think I could get behind that.
06:17As I've always said in regards to Casario, I think everyone has a blind spot.
06:21And even, like, you know, the great Bill Belichick, who we worked with in New England, Belichick could never really
06:25get playmakers on offense.
06:30I mean, they did a good job with Edelman and Wes Welker.
06:34But just in general, they didn't have a pro bowler at a skill position like his last, I think, like
06:3810 years in New England.
06:40You know, everyone has a blind spot.
06:42And for Casario, obviously, he seems to be offensive line.
06:44He can do well everywhere else except for that.
06:46And for Stroud, it's not a great comparison.
06:49But I almost think of, like, LeBron when he used to say he needed more help and he left Cleveland.
06:52And then, like, you go to Miami.
06:53It's like, all right, you have all these pieces.
06:54Now you've got to go win the thing.
06:56Or you go back to Cleveland and you have Kyrie and Kevin Love.
06:58It's like, all right, now you actually have to deliver a championship.
07:00And obviously, he did in year two.
07:02Or, like, Elon Musk always complained about Twitter.
07:04So then he went and bought the thing.
07:05And it's like, okay, now you better actually improve it.
07:07And I don't know if it's any better now than it was before.
07:10But it's just kind of this, like, okay, you got the things you need.
07:13Now you have to actually go out there and prove to us that you are the guy, that you can
07:16get this done.
07:18And I've liked this offseason for the Texans.
07:20But now it's on Stroud to go out there and actually perform to a level where, you know, you can
07:24have faith in extending him.
07:25Look, Stroud's playoff performances made a fool out of me, especially the last one.
07:29Because after Pittsburgh, I went into New England saying, hey, there's no way it could be that bad.
07:36That's not the C.J. Stroud that we know.
07:38No way we'll see that again.
07:40Yeah.
07:40And boy, was I wrong.
07:41And so at the risk of doing that again, I am going to predict a monster comeback year for C
07:48.J. Stroud.
07:48What exactly does that look like?
07:50Is it pro bowl, all pro?
07:53No, I just think that the narrative is going to switch.
07:57C.J. Stroud, because the main thing that the dudes got to work on, like individually, is getting back to
08:02that pinpoint accuracy that we had come to understand him to be about his rookie year.
08:06Which he still is a pretty accurate quarterback, but it's not to the elite level that it felt like it
08:13was his rookie year.
08:14He can get back to that.
08:15He can get back to being the quarterback that we were talking about coming out of that rookie year.
08:20So, I am predicting that.
08:23I am predicting that we will talk about C.J. Stroud differently a year from now than we are right
08:28this second.
08:28I hope you're right.
08:29I think a lot of people, at least nationally, are waiting until the playoffs to see, like, okay, what can
08:33Stroud do in the playoffs this time around to redeem himself?
08:36That's the only way to really do it.
08:38Yeah.
08:38But even for me, like, I'm not even going to wait until the playoffs.
08:40Like, I have to see it in the regular.
08:41If you start slow the first couple months, I'm not going to be like, oh, well, let's wait to see
08:45what he does in the postseason.
08:46But, see, that's going to come down to the offense as well, because the offense is just not designed for
08:50a light show.
08:51You know, it's just not.
08:52But if he can, like, I would love for them to open things up.
08:56But if he can be similar to what he was, let's say, post-concussion, but actually perform in the playoffs,
09:04I think that'll go a long way.
09:06It doesn't have to be the massive numbers or, like, it doesn't have to necessarily.
09:11I would love for it to be, but it doesn't look like that's what they even want to do, unfortunately.
09:15No, it's true.
09:16So if he can just play within the system and, like, but also shine as a talent, I think we
09:24can kind of change the narrative.
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