| If you are currently dissatisfied with the progress of your favorite National Football League team — a state of being that describes probably 26 of the 32 fan bases right now — we would strongly suggest that you not go back and look at any old NFL drafts on Wikipedia.
Should you look at one of those drafts, you’ll see certain names highlighted in tan for Pro Bowlers, gold for Hall of Famers. You really, really don’t want to see your team’s name above either of those two, because it’s an eternal reminder of how your team had a chance to pick greatness … and opted instead for junk.
You know the most notable misses — nine teams passing on Patrick Mahomes in 2017, virtually every team saying “nah” on Lamar Jackson in 2018, the whole NFL blowing right past Tom Brady five or six times in 2000. Usually it takes a couple years for draft regret to set in. Sometimes, though, it takes just a couple months.
The Carolina Panthers had a choice to make earlier this year on draft day, and opted to go with Alabama’s Bryce Young. It was a reasonable pick, a defensible pick of a player who ought to be a decent NFL starter for years to come. But in doing so, the Panthers passed on picking a player who’s already writing his name in the NFL record books.
The words “lucky” and “Houston Texans” don’t often appear together. But the Texans got extraordinarily lucky that the Panthers opted for Young, because that allowed C.J. Stroud to drop right into their lineup. Stroud has already led the usually woeful Texans to four wins, and Sunday was his most brilliant performance yet.
Down 33-30 with 46 seconds remaining, Stroud led Houston on a legend-making six-play, 75-yard drive. That capped a day in which Stroud threw for 470 yards (!) and five touchdowns (!!). Again, this is a rookie with exactly eight games’ experience at work here.
(The Texans trailed at the end of the game because Baker Mayfield led Tampa Bay on a would-be miraculous go-ahead drive with just 49 seconds remaining. The Bucs were trailing because Houston running back Dare Ogunbowale kicked a go-ahead field goal. Yeah, this was a weird game.)
Sunday wasn't just a "wow, that was pretty cool" game. Stroud set a rookie record for passing yardage with those 470 yards. His game was the best recorded by any quarterback to date this season, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Meanwhile — and we are aware of how unfair this small-sample comparison is, but still — Young threw three interceptions, two of them pick-6s, in a loss to Indianapolis.
At long last, Ohio State has apparently produced a serviceable NFL quarterback. (Apologies, Cardale Jones, Terrelle Pryor and Craig Krenzel, but you know it’s true. Ball’s in your court, Justin Fields.)
Stroud lost only four games in two years as a starter at Ohio State — once to Georgia in the College Football Playoff semifinal this past New Year’s Eve, once to Oregon early in the 2021 season, and twice to Michigan. (Strangely, both of those Michigan losses were among his worst statistical performances as a Buckeye. Hmmm.)
Houston has a long way to go to be considered relevant, much less threatening. The Texans are about two years behind Jacksonville in the “building a team around a promising young quarterback” department. But Stroud gives them a puncher’s chance virtually every game.
Stroud and the Texans get a marquee showdown next week against the Bengals and Joe Burrow. (No, Ohio State, you don’t get to claim Burrow.) If Stroud continues slinging it like he’s done so far, we could be witnessing the start of another remarkable NFL career. Just don’t talk him up too much around your Carolina friends.
— Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter
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