The Houston Texans are moving on to the next round of the NFL playoffs in large part because of their young quarterback. Rookie signal-caller CJ Stroud was simply outstanding Saturday night versus the Cleveland Browns during an AFC Wild Card showdown at home. Making it even more impressive is the fact that it was just Stroud's first taste of the NFL playoffs. Someone who's not made it past Week 17 of the 2023 NFL campaign, though, is the only player selected ahead of Stroud at the 2023 NFL Draft — Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young.

NFL fans, observers give all sorts of CJ Stroud vs Bryce Young takes after Texans win vs. Browns

CJ Stroud, DeMeco Ryans, Bryce Young

While Young and the Panthers are already in offseason mode, they are being targeted by fans on social media for what is perceived to be a mistake to take the former Alabama Crimson Tide star instead of Stroud.

There used to be a big debate about who should the Panthers take at No. 1 overall. The Panthers ultimately chose Young, but it did not take long for Stroud to heat up and start making people seriously question Carolina's decision. Stroud finished the 2023 NFL regular season with 4,108 passing yards and 23 touchdowns against only five interceptions. Young, on the other hand, had 2,877 passing yard and 11 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.

Some have tried to use a better context for Young's struggles in his first season in the league amid the success of the Texans signal-caller.

“CJ Stroud has more yards in the first half of this playoff game than Bryce Young had in all but two of his 16 games this season. Different Weapons. Different Scheme. Different Situation. But sheesh,” said Josh Klein.

“Hate to beat a dead horse, but…When did Bryce Young EVER have this much time/space to make a throw? When did he ever have a receiver get this kind of separation downfield?” said X user @JoshGrahamShow.

“It's fine to appreciate what CJ Stroud is doing with the Texans and having much better everything at the moment while acknowledging the utter crap Bryce Young is in with the Panthers. Been a lot of silly and unnecessary revisionism for both,” chimed in @TheMSeries1.

In the 45-17 demolition of the Browns, Stroud passed for 274 yards with three touchdowns and zero interception on 16-of-21 pass completion. He will have another chance to add more to his incredible rookie campaign in the next round of the NFL playoffs.