Texans: JJ Watt destroys 'algorithm' that dissed CJ Stroud's Browns domination

Texans legend JJ Watt ardently came to the defense of CJ Stroud, who didn't rate well in PFF's grading metric.

After much hullabaloo as to who should have gone first in the 2023 NFL Draft, CJ Stroud has far and away been the best quarterback from his draft class. Stroud was excellent as a rookie, and he continues to lead the Houston Texas to great heights after he put up perhaps the best performance of his career to this point in a 45-14 demolition of the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Wild Card round.

Stroud didn't need to do much, but what he was asked to do, he was able to at such a high level. The Texans QB completed 16 of his 21 passes against the Browns for a total of 274 yards, while throwing three touchdown passes, looking like a composed veteran who has gone through plenty of playoff battles, not a 22-year old quarterback in his first season.

However, not everyone was too impressed with CJ Stroud's star-making performance against the Browns. In fact, PFF gave the Texans QB's performance a 77.8 rating, well below the grades the likes of Jordan Love, Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes received. This then drew quite the strong pushback from Texans legend JJ Watt, who simply could not comprehend how an algorithm rated that performance from Stroud that poorly.

“This is what happens when you try to grade football players with an algorithm… CJ Stroud's performance was “graded” a 77.8 And people treat this s**t as gospel. 🤦🏼‍♂️,” Watt wrote on his official Twitter (X) account.

PFF, according to their website, employs around 60 high-level analysts who give NFL players their grades on a play per play basis. They then give players a grade ranging from -2 to +2 on every play based on how they executed relative to expectations set by their rubric.

At the end of the day, their grading system remains subjective, as grading whether or not a player was able to make the ideal play remains up to the analysts' interpretation of the rubric.

Nonetheless, while JJ Watt may have a point that a grade of 77.8 seems rather harsh for CJ Stroud, perhaps the Texans merely made the 22-year old quarterback's life that much easier, which is why he doesn't rate as well in PFF's metric.