While still managing to post a successful season in the record books with a second-straight playoff appearance alongside it, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud left a bit more to be desired in his second year in the NFL mix.
Stroud saw a dip in total passing yards, touchdowns, and completion percentage, while also more than doubling his interception total from five in his rookie season to 12 in his second. Still leading the Texans to double-digit wins, yet not too close to his first year under center from a production standpoint.
However, the lapses in Stroud's output could be easily explained –– at least in the eyes of a Houston source who spoke to NBC Sports analyst Matthew Berry at the NFL Combine.
According to that source, the Texans' overall protection of Stroud held a significant pull to his underwhelming performance.
"Simple. The offensive line was bad and then he got the yips," the source said.
The Texans suffered from one of the league's worst collective offensive line units through 2024, especially in pass protection. Stroud was the league's second-most sacked quarterback across the season with 52 sacks, a steep jump from his rookie total of 38.
Then, those "yips" were put on full display from Weeks 9 to 16 for Stroud, throwing a brutal 58.8% completion rate on a 1-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and posting a 76.3 passer rating throughout.
During that time, the Texans quarterback would also deal with the consequences of losing top targets like Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs, further fueling the fire of chaos in the Houston offense.
Compared to a much more stable landscape in year one, Stroud had his hands full throughout his second season from the start. The Texans saw the unraveling of that as the year progressed as they finished the year with a 19th-ranked scoring offense compared to their placement at 13th a year ago.
Regardless of the struggles, Stroud has shown no signs of not being capable as this team's franchise quarterback of the future, but he can't do the job alone.
In hopes of a third-straight playoff appearance next season, the Texans will need to heavily address their unit upfront for 2025. Stable veterans like Laremy Tunsil and Shaq Mason are set to return for the year ahead to help right the ship, but beyond that, Houston will have to remain diligent in finding those aspired upgrades through either free agency or April's draft.
The Texans can begin free agency negotiations once the window opens across the league at noon ET on Monday, March 10th.
