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Seth and B-Scott discuss all the positivity coming out from Texans OTAs and camp about CJ Stroud, and assess how much of it is legit and how much could be fluff.
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00:01A lot of positive press for the Texans quarterback coming out of OTAs, coming out of minicamp.
00:08And look, I want to be clear about this. I think this is going to be a good year for
00:12C.J. Stroud.
00:13It really kind of has to be for the Texans' sake, for C.J. Stroud's sake.
00:18We'll see what ends up happening with the contract.
00:21But that part of it aside, the Texans have an opportunity to do something really special this year.
00:27They had an opportunity to do something special last year.
00:31And turnovers ended up doing them in toward the end of the season.
00:34And no one is really letting C.J. Stroud forget about it.
00:38No one's letting – Texans fans certainly aren't going to forget about it.
00:42But Stroud, if we're just being fair about it, is way more good than bad.
00:49I would say he's been mostly good in his three seasons for the Texans.
00:53It has been an overwhelming success.
00:55Lest we not forget what things looked like before that guy got here, before D'Amico Ryans took over as
01:02the head coach.
01:03Things used to not look so good.
01:06They haven't always been so pretty around here.
01:09But, look, the recency of it all I think is what kind of contributes to the – like the salt
01:17in the wound makes it sting a little bit more.
01:20So, of course, naturally, everyone's being asked about the quarterback, which I think would happen at any camp, any OTA,
01:27any mini camp.
01:27But especially coming off the way that the season ended, we all want to hear what everybody has to say
01:34about C.J. Stroud.
01:35So, of course, Dalton Schultz, one of the leaders of the team, and a pretty decent relationship with the quarterback,
01:41with C.J. Stroud,
01:43was asked what he's seen from Stroud so far early on in camp, and this is what he had to
01:48say.
01:48Yeah, I mean, he's been working.
01:50Like, since the season was over, like, I think he got to work straight away.
01:55I mean, we met up before, you know, OTAs even started, and, like, he already looked like he'd been training
02:01for months.
02:01So, I think just coming into OTAs, like, with that mindset, with that mindset of getting back to work
02:07and really starting from basics, fundamentals, throwing mechanics, footwork, like, he's been looking really good out there.
02:12He's looked a lot smoother.
02:13Anytime you're in year two of an offense, it's going to happen.
02:15But I think so, too, he's done a good job of just leading the group, and leading the group kind
02:21of cleanly, clearly helps with the operation and everything.
02:24So, he's done a really good job.
02:26So, my question, Seth, to you is, what do we make of all of the positive things that we're hearing
02:30about Stroud from Texas camp?
02:32Is it just a season of positivity, or do we actually feel good about Stroud shaking off that playoff performance
02:41and being closer to the QB that he's been when he's at his best rather than when he's at his
02:47worst?
02:47I think that, look, there's only so many things that you can take as just bona fide, genuine signs of
02:53progress that you can lean into.
02:55But there's no limit on the number of negative things that could be happening right now with your quarterback.
03:05Like, so, the fact that there's an absence of negative, the continuum of what you could hope to see from
03:12your quarterback at this time of the year
03:13following a really bad playoff performance, including the Steelers game, would be anywhere from,
03:19oh, man, it seems like he hates the Texans, he's unfollowed them on social media, he's agitating for this or
03:24agitating for that.
03:25That would be the bad thing.
03:26And then it goes all the way up to where we are right now, which is, okay, he's checking off
03:31all the boxes on how you hope your starting quarterback operates.
03:35And is there anything he could have done in minicamp better?
03:39Sure, if he was just blowing the doors out of the best defense in the league during minicamp somehow, that
03:48would be better.
03:48But it's also not very likely.
03:50Even if he's, he could be Matt Stafford back there, and he's probably not going to really be tearing up
03:55the Texans' defense in minicamp practices.
03:57So I think right now it's about as good as you could have hoped for, especially given that there doesn't
04:04really seem to be any drama or anything when it comes to the contract side of things,
04:10that he's doing all the right things and that you just got to hope, okay, this is a sign of
04:14things to come.
04:15Other than that, though, yeah, you can't necessarily say, wow, because of the absence of these issues, then he's going
04:21to be a completely different guy next year.
04:23Yeah, I understand what you're saying.
04:24The absence of a negative does not necessarily equal a positive, right?
04:29It does not necessarily mean that things are going in the right direction.
04:33But I do like this sort of correction that's happening, right?
04:38Like, there seems to be a proper, at least in my view, a proper level of accountability, scrutiny, and criticism
04:48for what the playoff performance was.
04:50Because I think you can go overboard, but I also think you got to call the spade the spade.
04:54Like, we can't just shrug our shoulders and be like, oh, well, the quarterback turned it over a hundred times
04:59it felt like in a playoff game,
05:01and we're just going to go on about our merry way and be happy about everything.
05:05Like, it doesn't work that way.
05:07But we also got to keep everything in this context, the entirety of his run here so far and what
05:14that game,
05:14all of the challenges that presented the Texans in that game, but also to say how uncharacteristic outside of those
05:22two games,
05:23because we should point out that the Pittsburgh game was a problem as well, even though they won the game.
05:28He was turnover prone.
05:30Outside of those games, they have been very antithetical to what C.J. Stroud has been in his career, right?
05:38A big part of the charm of what he was doing in his rookie year wasn't just the plays that
05:43he was making,
05:44but the bad he was not making, right?
05:47The fact that he wasn't giving the ball away.
05:50And then one of the more boring parts of this past season was sort of that cat-and-mouse game
05:57that they were playing of,
05:59you know, ball control, time of possession, keeping, you know, not turning the ball over.
06:06They were elite at that.
06:07They were elite at possessing the ball and not giving the ball away.
06:11But when it came to, I don't know, scoring points or converting on third down or making stuff happen in
06:18the red zone,
06:18at one stretch, even just getting in the red zone was an issue for this offense.
06:23Those were the things where they fell short.
06:26And so, look, I think that a proper conversation sort of includes both the things that he's done well
06:34and some of the things that he needs to improve at.
06:37But I'm just curious on what it's going to look like after having heard from Stroud a couple of weeks
06:42ago.
06:43Like we talked about explosives earlier.
06:45I want to know – like I want to know if we're going to get the C.J. Stroud deep
06:51ball back.
06:52Right, right, right.
06:52Something is something that I don't want to oversimplify that, but that's just an example.
06:57Like when does that show itself again, something that we got used to seeing from him
07:01that now I fear we're getting used to not seeing from him?
07:05Well, I think that's where, again, just going back to the fundamentals of the way the offense operates,
07:10C.J.'s never had a really and actually good rushing attack since he's been here.
07:15And sometimes when I bring that up, people say, well, Joe Mixon had over 1,000 yards.
07:19If you watch those games, there were games where Joe Mixon had 150 yards, but they ran the ball like
07:25crap.
07:26He had a few nice breakouts, but the rest of the game he was dodging defenders in the backfield.
07:32Starting – literally, Seth, starting with the first game of Joe Mixon's Texans career.
07:38I can remember after that Indy game like it was yesterday that all of us wanted to give the offensive
07:43line
07:44some credit for what Joe Mixon did that game, and then we went back and looked at what he was
07:48doing after contact
07:49or like how much the offensive line actually contributed to his 100-plus yard game that day.
07:56And it was like, damn, Joe Mixon's really good because he wasn't working with a lot.
07:59And that became a theme throughout the season for him.
08:02Yeah, and it's really hard when defenses don't have to respect the run at all.
08:09It's really hard to take the top off of a defense that's sitting on their heels.
08:13And that's what it's really been the entire time, especially after teams adjusted to what C.J.
08:20and Bobby Slowick could and could not do in those first couple years.
08:25It just – it became easier to game plan for the Texans because of the complete absence of a viable
08:32rushing attack.
08:33So that's where – like, I don't want to overly simplify it, but if they can credibly run the ball,
08:41they don't have to be incredible, just credible, it'll open up some opportunities for the deep ball.
08:46They'll just be a harder team to defend.
08:48And I think you'll see that.
08:49And, you know, it's funny, I was thinking for a little while after the playoffs, when none of us were
08:56in our right minds,
08:57it felt like, man, C.J.'s not going to be able to redeem himself until the playoffs next year.
09:03That's what it felt like, kind of like in a James Harden type.
09:06James Harden being an MVP, but it just didn't matter.
09:09The difference is that – I think the difference with C.J. is that he also was –
09:15he was a slightly above average quarterback, as objectively as possible.
09:18I'm not trying to use my own bias or anything.
09:20Just by the various quarterback metrics, he was a slightly above average quarterback.
09:24You know, somewhere between the 12th and 17th, perhaps, quarterback in all the various different rankings.
09:30Yeah.
09:32If he's better than that, and it's because the offense is functioning better,
09:37then I'm going to feel better about him going into the playoffs,
09:39and I'm not going to worry about some kind of – you know, just some kind of mental block or
09:43anything.
09:45And he's not – and in some ways, I feel like I'd rather have that problem than, say, James Harden,
09:51who was incredible in the regular season and really good in the playoffs at times until it really, really mattered.
09:56Yes.
09:56But going back to Peyton Manning and his career, I mean, you know who had four interceptions in New England
10:02in the playoffs once upon a time?
10:04Peyton Manning in an AFC championship game.
10:06It was disgusting.
10:07He was notorious for sucking in the playoffs, but he was also having MVP caliber regular season.
10:15So you'd take that – like, you'd think, okay, great, he's great in the playoffs.
10:19With the Colts, they had issues with the defense and the way they operated and everything, too.
10:23But you just weren't quite sure about it.
10:25With CJ, CJ's already had good performances in the playoffs.
10:30If he comes in and in the first five or six games of the regular season,
10:34he looks a lot more like the guy that we were promised after his rookie season,
10:39I'm going to feel – I'll feel legitimately better about him.
10:42I won't be thinking, oh, yeah – I won't be thinking just waiting until the playoffs.
10:47I'll be thinking more like, oh, just, wow, waiting until the playoffs even.
10:50Wow, this could end up being really fun in the playoffs.
10:54Yeah.
10:54So you mentioned us not being in our right minds after the game.
10:58I can remember saying explicitly, I don't remember if it was on the radio
11:01or if it was on my podcast, the B Block would be – I don't know where it was that
11:05I said this,
11:05but I mean, I literally said, I don't care what CJ Stroud does in preseason, camp, regular season.
11:14I don't give a damn what we're talking about until we get right back to this very moment again,
11:20to the playoffs, the places that they've been – to their credit, by the way, to their credit,
11:25the place that they've been literally every year of his career until we get right –
11:29because I've already seen it.
11:30I already know that he can have a Pro Bowl season.
11:33He did that his rookie year.
11:35I already know he can give you a lot of highlight plays.
11:38He's done that a time or two throughout his career.
11:41I already know that the Texans can make the playoffs.
11:43They've done that the entire time.
11:45I know that they can win a playoff game.
11:46I know that they can win a playoff game on the road.
11:49They've checked off a lot of boxes, but now they need to get right back to this here moment
11:54because this is – this is the sting.
11:57This is the nasty taste in your mouth that's left over that I need them to kind of –
12:02that I need them to atone for.
12:04So I was right there with you, but I'll say this.
12:07You've already hit on one of these things.
12:08I wrote down three things.
12:10Just jotted these things down that I think can help CJ Stroud.
12:13And you mentioned the first one off top.
12:16These are mine.
12:17Better run game, healthy playmakers in year two – oh, I'm sorry.
12:22Better run game, healthy playmakers in a year two jump from the rookies from last year.
12:30The Jaden Higgins, Jalen Knoll.
12:32Let's just call it the Jaden Higgins, Jalen Knoll, Woody Marks trio.
12:36Of course, Ariante Ursary is left tackle as a second-year guy as well.
12:40But just specifically with the playmakers themselves.
12:43Healthy playmakers, so like guys that were injured like Revan Jordan, Tank Dale,
12:48having guys like that available if he's going to have guys like that available on top of the run game.
12:54And, of course, these year two jumps that I'm hoping – I don't know if expectation is the right word,
12:59but certainly hoping to get from Jaden Higgins, Jalen Knoll, and Woody Marks.
13:04Yeah, Jalen Knoll's the exciting one just to watch him out at OTAs.
13:08I mean, it's nothing that you haven't seen already in his rookie year.
13:12You know, the play against the Chargers especially, that one I felt like you could really just –
13:18there was something about the TV broadcast angle in that one where it just looked like Jalen Knoll was shot
13:26out of a rocket across the field.
13:27Yeah, it did, it did.
13:28He looked like a tracer bullet or something.
13:30And, like, that's what you could see right there.
13:33Oh, wow.
13:34If they can really get him polished up enough that the quarterback trusts him
13:40and that he's integrated into the office and everything, like, he could – he might end up being –
13:45you asked me earlier, okay, where the explosive play is going to come from,
13:47and I gave you the easiest answer in the world, which was Nico Collins.
13:51And the run game.
13:52You mentioned the run game.
13:53Yeah, but not even – I'm not even talking about explosive runs as more as, like, the run game setting
13:57up Nico Collins.
13:58Right.
13:59But Jalen Knoll would be the one that, man, because it's not just his speed.
14:03It's that he's strong as hell for a guy who's a smaller –
14:07his ability to break tackles, if he can catch the ball at full speed, one or two defenders,
14:13one or two tiny defensive backs especially, are going to have a hard time taking him down.
14:19So that's the – that's potentially the kind of the breakout star that nobody around the league would be talking
14:25about,
14:25but that has a lot more juice in him that people might realize.
14:28The Chargers game that you're talking about, I just remember thinking, and I still feel this way, like,
14:33where's that been at?
14:35Yeah.
14:35Where – and even to this day, I ask the question –
14:38You had to get Christian Kirk's targets.
14:40Well, there we go.
14:41Because I – to this day, I go, what am I missing here?
14:45What am I missing?
14:46What's he missing?
14:48What is missing?
14:49There is something amiss, and I just don't know what it is.
14:53There were times last year, especially early in the season, where, you know,
14:56so much of it with a receiver – and Jaden Higgins has talked about this –
15:00is about, you know, how important it is to not just, you know, learn the physical side of it,
15:06but how precise you have to be with the timing of a play
15:11and that you need to be exactly where you're supposed to be right at the right.
15:15And that's where running crisp routes and consistent routes and everything comes into it,
15:20is that there were times last year where it looked like, man, boy, I'm looking at CJ
15:25wondering why he didn't throw it to Jaden Higgins or didn't throw it to Jalen Noel,
15:29and then you realize, all right, it's because they weren't exactly where he needed them to be.
15:33And as a quarterback, when you're just checking things out of your peripheral or whatever,
15:37and you just – it's – he can't trust that you're going to be exactly in that lane,
15:42in that passing lane when he needs you to be, it's tough for him.
15:46It's tough for him to trust you.
15:48And I think with Jaden – with Jalen Noel, especially when you're playing slot a bunch,
15:52that's where it's – that's where you really need to be on the same page with a quarterback,
15:56and it's a steep learning curve.
15:57So what you hope is that Jalen Noel learned all those lessons his rookie year
16:01and that by this year he can be a guy that CJ trusts, basically.
16:05We got a couple of interesting texts on the text line,
16:07and, of course, I probably should have mentioned this earlier.
16:09You can text the show 713-572-4610.
16:14But just to go to show you how differently people are on this – on the CJ Stroud conversation,
16:20from the 713, this is probably not a popular opinion, but I believe in Stroud.
16:26And then literally the next text message from the 281, it's starting to feel forced.
16:30Talking about the positive Stroud stuff that we're hearing.
16:36Also from the 281, this is an interesting text.
16:40I don't know if I agree with this, but it's an interesting thought.
16:43CJ's trust in the offense affected his accuracy.
16:46I don't know how you would know that, especially if he doesn't tell you that explicitly,
16:50but it is an interesting thought of having to adjust and maybe his comfort level not being there
16:55and maybe that having an impact on his accuracy.
16:58Well, I think some of that might come back to –
17:00I mean, you could – that person might be talking about Nick Kaley
17:03or might be talking about just that same dynamic that I was just talking about
17:06with just your receivers needing to be – is they're adjusting their routes
17:10and then they're on option routes and everything, like, exactly.
17:13Or do I trust – do I trust that we're going to be able to make this throw
17:17and execute this play properly?
17:19I think as far as the feeling force part, yeah.
17:23And I think that's partly because it's been just an onslaught of it now of a lot of people
17:29saying the exact same compliment over and over again.
17:31Like, maybe they all got together and said,
17:33hey, guys, we need to be sure CJ has our support.
17:36Let's tell everybody how great he is at the pre-snap operation, okay?
17:41Because even yesterday – we're going to play some audio from you from yesterday
17:45where that's where I started to suspect that these guys have been giving notes
17:48about what to say about CJ to be sure they build up his confidence enough.
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