- 9 hours ago
Shaun Bijani & Paul Gallant discuss how patient they can be, & want to be with the Texans' offense, highlighted by CJ Stroud.
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00:00so I think we need to like revisit this a little bit,
00:04especially since you and I have not done a show in the better part of like,
00:09I don't know, 15 years.
00:10It's been forever.
00:11I want to know like your thoughts,
00:13like your real thoughts on this quarterback situation,
00:17because I have a feeling that the way you asked John McClain about CJ
00:22Stroud and this quarterback and the way that you put it is like,
00:24Hey man,
00:25at some point isn't about the quarterback as a ball placement specialist,
00:28as opposed to the offense and what you have around him and things like
00:32that.
00:32Why are you ready to be there?
00:36All already.
00:37It sounds.
00:38I used to look at him as a Superbowl quarterback.
00:40I used to believe in him.
00:41When I saw his rookie year was amazing.
00:44I don't know what happened between year one and year two.
00:47I think you could argue and that Stroud might even argue that he didn't focus
00:50the way that he needed to.
00:52He's even said,
00:53Hey,
00:53I thought this was going to be really easy that year two to year three,
00:58where they get rid of the offensive coordinator who everyone loved Stroud's
01:02rookie year.
01:03And all of a sudden hated his sophomore year.
01:05And the offensive coordinator was to blame always the offensive coordinator.
01:10Then it's the offensive line after the fact,
01:12even though they had an all pro and Laramie Tunsell and the guy in Titus
01:15Howard,
01:15who was probably overpaid was at the very least a solid player.
01:18I'm at the point where I've just seen so many people making excuses for
01:22their young quarterback.
01:23And I get it.
01:24You want your young quarterback to be the guy,
01:26but I don't know.
01:27Sorry to pat myself on the back here,
01:29but sometimes you have a feeling about your quarterback and it's right.
01:33Back in 2018,
01:36and you can go find the tweet if you want.
01:38I said,
01:39Houston fans,
01:39are you having a tough time admitting that Patrick Mahomes is better than
01:42Deshaun Watson?
01:43You'd be surprised by the amount of backlash that post got.
01:45I got a lot of it.
01:46You realize how much scrolling I'd have to do to do that.
01:49Okay.
01:49I'm just saying tweet a lot.
01:50I'm just saying that way back in the day,
01:53that's,
01:54that's how I felt.
01:55And this is how I feel with Stroud.
01:56And it's not to say that he's bad.
01:57And it's not to say that I want him gone either.
02:00No,
02:00I think the alternative to having him here is a little bit terrifying because
02:05you could get worse and you could find yourself back with like Davis Mills,
02:09trotting him out or Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett,
02:12a quarterback competition between those two,
02:14Ryan Fitzpatrick.
02:15I mean,
02:16those are some rough days of years past.
02:17He's better than those guys,
02:20but until otherwise in this offense with what this team is clearly trying to do
02:27based on the off season,
02:28where they're trying to build a power running game,
02:29I am giving CJ Stroud a henna tattoo.
02:32You know what those are?
02:33Yes.
02:33They're the semi-permanent tattoos.
02:36Semi-permanent,
02:37sir,
02:37not permanent.
02:38Right on his forehead,
02:39Mike Tyson style.
02:40It says game manager now.
02:42And by the way,
02:43game manager,
02:43that's not an insult,
02:44but that's what he needs to be.
02:46He needs to be more careful.
02:48I think a lot of people look at Stroud and you see what he is capable of,
02:54but I see a guy that has slowly become a little more sloppy over the last couple of years.
02:58I think he puts the ball in harm's way when he's throwing the ball away.
03:01Take a look at how many almost interceptions he threw on throwaways to the sideline last year.
03:06It was at least four.
03:08He needs to be more careful with the football.
03:10He needs to be smarter with the football.
03:12And whether it's that awful red zone interception he threw against the Steelers,
03:16which might've been as bad as all of the interceptions that he threw against the Patriots,
03:21where at least on sometimes it was like,
03:22oh,
03:22well,
03:22he was getting hit while he threw it.
03:24All of those things make me concerned that he's good,
03:29but he's not great.
03:30And the standard's great.
03:31You don't win a Superbowl in this AFC with all these quarterbacks in this conference.
03:35Unless you have a guy that is capable of that.
03:37And I am,
03:38I am concerned and I am also annoyed by the amount of fans that pointed everything else
03:43or the Ben Solacks of the world from their garden who are pointing at,
03:47well,
03:47Stroud's never had a running game.
03:48Stroud's never running game his rookie year.
03:49Didn't hurt him then.
03:50Oh,
03:51but now all of a sudden he has Joe Mixon the next year where it was a little bit better.
03:55Yeah.
03:55His rookie year was Singletary,
03:57right?
03:57Running the football in Singletary.
04:00Singletary didn't really start to figure things out towards the middle to latter portion of the season.
04:05Singletary put together one of his best stretches of his career too.
04:08And I would say similarly to what Joe Mixon did two years ago for the Texans in the second year
04:14of Bobby Sloak
04:15is he made chicken poop into chicken salad.
04:17Yeah,
04:18he did a great job.
04:18The offensive line in front of him was doing no favors to Joe Mixon in 2024.
04:22To your point about how CJ needs to be a game managing quarterback
04:27and be a lot more careful with the football.
04:30I mean,
04:31statistically speaking,
04:32prior to those last two games,
04:35CJ Stroud,
04:36through his first three years,
04:38has taken pretty good care of the football.
04:40Like,
04:41has there been some sketch throws?
04:43Yeah,
04:43sure.
04:43But here's the thing.
04:44Like,
04:45I'm,
04:45I'm going to go ahead and say this.
04:47Like,
04:47I am willing to be far more patient with quarterback,
04:51offensive coordinator,
04:52head coach,
04:53anybody and anything that is responsible for making the wheel go round.
04:57than anybody else,
04:59because I do not subscribe to the way that the NFL is and has been and will be in that
05:07you got three years to make this thing like awesome and excellent.
05:11I just,
05:12I think it's far too fast and it's far too much to put on anybody's plate to expect greatness,
05:21so to speak.
05:22Like,
05:22yeah,
05:23we saw flashes,
05:24I think,
05:24of what could be greatness and elite level quarterback play,
05:28CJ Stroud's rookie year,
05:29but teams adjust and teams flip,
05:35you know,
05:35usually 35% of the roster from one year to the next.
05:38And who's to say how much schematically changes from one year to the next in,
05:44in what offenses want to do,
05:46what they think they're capable of.
05:47And then ish happens.
05:49IE,
05:50the question I asked John McClain last segment about,
05:53you know,
05:55no Brevin Jordan,
05:56no Joe Mixon,
05:57Lakin Tomlinson turns out to suck.
05:59And then the Texans flip flop the offensive line a ton last year.
06:04And you're just how much of the playbook did you have to throw out?
06:09If you were Nick Caley,
06:10mind you in his first year,
06:12and then nevermind injuries and underperformance,
06:15Christian Kirk,
06:17and then expecting,
06:18you know,
06:18a rookie in Jaden Higgins to step up and take meaningful snaps and Xavier Hutchinson to take a significant step
06:24in a third year.
06:26Like,
06:26it's just a lot to ask and expect.
06:29And in the home,
06:30oh,
06:30by the way,
06:31your quarterback who is on his second offensive coordinator and maybe third different offense schematically in as many years as
06:41well,
06:41because something clearly changed from year one of Bobby Sloick to year two of Bobby Sloick.
06:47They just didn't operate the same.
06:49And then last year with Kaylee,
06:51it's completely different.
06:52Much more of the onus is on your quarterback and more is being asked of him before the snap.
06:58But less is being asked of him post snap,
07:02so to speak.
07:02You don't want him to play hero.
07:04You want to run the hell out of the football when your offensive line sucks and you're having to trust
07:09a rookie running back to make stuff happen.
07:12I'm just willing to be more patient,
07:14I think,
07:14than a lot of people,
07:15because mind you,
07:16it was just three years and it's going into a fourth year.
07:19I'm more encouraged by this fourth year because I think it's year two for Kaylee and it feels like just
07:27on paper they're starting to pull in the same direction.
07:31You know,
07:32they flip script before last year with the assistant offensive line coach and Popovich taking over.
07:38And then now it feels like they got the guys in place that they want to best execute this blocking
07:43scheme.
07:44They got the new tight end coach,
07:46Ferentz.
07:46They drafted a tight end.
07:48So that speaks to me more like they're doubling down on what they believe in schematically and offensively than anything
07:55else.
07:57So I'm willing to see this thing play out more than maybe other people are.
08:01But how much longer?
08:03I want to see this year.
08:04You've got to take a step like this has to be,
08:06this has to be a year in which,
08:08okay,
08:09I can see everything that you've done via free agency draft and coaching staff come together.
08:14Like,
08:15you know,
08:16you trust your eyes.
08:17Like we trusted our eyes last year.
08:18This offense was ass all season long.
08:21That showed no consistency at all.
08:24It didn't look like they were on the same page.
08:25And we knew that we trusted our eyes.
08:27And there was a lot of reasons as to why I need to see the opposite of that this season.
08:31If it doesn't all come together,
08:32are we going to point the finger at everybody else again?
08:35Because look,
08:35Stroud,
08:36what he did in that game against the Patriots in particular,
08:39but against the Steelers too,
08:41and it allowed some egg to be on it.
08:43But I mean,
08:44there's a world where,
08:45you know,
08:45Hey,
08:45right now we are talking about everything around Stroud.
08:48You can't really do it after those last two games that we saw.
08:51No,
08:51but context is important,
08:52right?
08:52So me and PC kind of played this game last week.
08:55He asked me straight up like,
08:57all right,
08:58statistically speaking,
08:59what do you need to see from CJ Stroud in 2026?
09:03And I'm like,
09:04well,
09:04I don't know.
09:04Like what numbers am I supposed to throw out that make you say,
09:07yep,
09:08give that dude the bag.
09:09Because if you want to be a run first team and you want your quarterback to be a game manager,
09:13I'm not anticipating 35 touchdowns to a 10 interception touchdown to ratio,
09:19touchdown to interception ratio.
09:21Should I be anticipating 4,200 yards,
09:23a 63% completion percentage,
09:25like stuff like that?
09:26How about touchdowns in the red zone?
09:28Touchdowns in the red zone.
09:29You brought in David Montgomery to help you in that facet.
09:32Like you were the worst in the league in that facet last year.
09:35David Montgomery has been one of the best in the league at doing just that.
09:39And his usage rate has literally dropped for four straight years because of a guy named Gibbs up in Detroit.
09:45Right.
09:46So you're getting a pretty fresh veteran running back whose specialty is to score in the red zone.
09:54And Schultz is coming back.
09:56You just drafted a good blocking tight end.
09:59Maybe,
10:00maybe schematically,
10:02Nick Haley can get a little bit more creative instead of becoming so predictable in those red zone situations.
10:08I think though,
10:10ultimately,
10:10Stroud's got to be comfortable getting into what the offense is telling him to get.
10:16And I don't,
10:18I know a lot of people hate the idea that once again,
10:21there's a Patriots element of what the Texans are trying to do.
10:25But I don't know.
10:26If someone who grew up watching that team win six Super Bowls,
10:29make it to nine and being so damn consistent all along the way.
10:32Sure.
10:33Tom Brady's awesome.
10:34Sure.
10:35Bill Belichick's awesome.
10:36But there's something to that offense that can be tapped into.
10:39And,
10:40you know,
10:40you want a guy like Stroud to be capable of running any kind of offense.
10:46That's what the great quarterbacks can do.
10:47And,
10:48and ultimately,
10:49if he's not a great quarterback,
10:50if he's,
10:51if he's the game manager,
10:53like,
10:53sure.
10:53You could probably win a couple of playoff games with him.
10:56Maybe you can get to the AFC championship game or something like that.
10:58Did you say a game manager won a Super Bowl last year?
11:01Yeah.
11:01Sam Donald's a game manager for sure.
11:03Yeah.
11:03But when he,
11:04when he needed to be a dude,
11:06when their run game was decimated,
11:08like around.
11:09He sucked against the Patriots for what it's worth.
11:10Well,
11:10against the Patriots,
11:12but he still put up 4,200 yards and a really good touchdown interception
11:16ratio for the regular season.
11:17I get it.
11:18I get it.
11:19Yeah.
11:19Yeah.
11:20don't you want your dude to be the dude when he has to be the dude?
11:24Yes.
11:24I don't think Donald was though.
11:26I don't.
11:26I don't.
11:27I really don't.
11:27I think Donald,
11:28the 49ers game was over like two seconds in the game against the Rams.
11:32He made some plays for sure.
11:33But what about CJ Stroud who led four game winning comebacks?
11:36I think it was maybe it's five,
11:37his rookie season.
11:38Like he's shown the propensity to be able to like,
11:40you did it then put it on his shoulders,
11:42lead his team down the field,
11:44you know,
11:45you're not wrong.
11:45I'm just saying like,
11:46that's two years ago.
11:47Yeah.
11:48Yeah.
11:48Yeah.
11:48You know,
11:48Hey,
11:50we've all done cool things in the past.
11:52Sometimes you never get back to it.
11:53I know you're right.
11:54You're right.
11:54Sometimes you're right.
11:55And people have asked the question,
11:57is he broke?
11:58And if he's broke,
11:59can you put them back together?
12:00Kind of like Humpty Dumpty,
12:01right?
12:01Or what he once possessed with like ice water in his veins.
12:05Is that like now unattainable?
12:07That's only up to him.
12:09And you got to let this whole season play out because I am always against
12:14putting a ceiling on a dude that is so few years into a career with so much
12:22change thrown around him.
12:23Like how many quarterback,
12:25how many players could you say like,
12:28you know what?
12:29I love that dude.
12:31I love his approach.
12:33Without even stepping on a football field.
12:36I love listening to that guy talk.
12:38He's passionate.
12:39He cares.
12:40And he wants other people to care and wants other people to join him on this
12:44bandwagon,
12:45right?
12:45That's CJ Stroud.
12:46He has said all of the right things.
12:48Only thing he ain't done is wore the right damn baseball cap to press conferences and
12:51games sometimes.
12:52It is funny how everyone blew that out of proportion.
12:54Look,
12:55I think Stroud cares.
12:56I think he cares.
12:56Here's the other thing though.
12:57I think he might care a little bit too much.
12:59I mean,
12:59the fact that he's coming up to a Texas practice and he's got the hat on the
13:03Astros hat on the fact that he's working out and he's working on like the
13:07aesthetic things with his arms.
13:08I don't know that lifting weights is necessarily going to make Stroud a better
13:10quarterback.
13:11I've seen ripped quarterbacks.
13:13Rob Johnson,
13:14for example,
13:14asked Seth Payne about this,
13:17who was shredded,
13:18but he wasn't as good of a quarterback and he got hurt a lot.
13:20Like that,
13:21that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
13:22I wonder if all this outside noise is lending itself to,
13:26well,
13:26I got to do all these things.
13:27And maybe he cares almost too much in that.
13:29He's trying to make sure that he's doing everything he can to get back to where
13:33he used to be.
13:34There is a,
13:35there is such a thing as trying too hard.
13:36I would rather have the guy who was trying too hard than have someone who's
13:39aloof,
13:39like Kyler Murray,
13:40who doesn't care.
13:41And I'm glad that Texas didn't go and get into soft season,
13:43but just to bring it back to where I'm at,
13:45Stroud's a game manager and sorry,
13:48I'm a little slut.
13:48I've got a wandering eye.
13:51I'm looking around.
13:52If you're the Texans,
13:53you should be thinking about alternatives.
13:56And I think that that's where the Texans are.
13:58I think they are.
13:59I didn't get the bag this off season.
14:00Right,
14:01right.
14:01And they're saying all,
14:02they're saying all the things,
14:04but you know what?
14:04I think they're saying all those things.
14:07Largely because while they know how they actually feel,
14:11I think they're a little concerned that they could perhaps further frazzle
14:16them,
14:16rattle them.
14:17100%.
14:17I do not disagree with that.
14:19That's Paul Galan in for Patrick Crate and Sean Bajani.
14:22We're area 45.
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