Before joining DeMeco Ryans' staff ahead of the 2023 NFL season, Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik has spent the previous six years on Kyle Shanahan's staff in San Francisco. In that time, Slowik was part of the staff that routinely got the best out of quarterbacks like Nick Mullens, CJ Beathard, Jimmy Garoppolo, and most recently, Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy. This is all to say that in his time with the 49ers, Slowik never had the opportunity to work with a young quarterback who was definitively and irrefutably the guy from the time he walked in the door. But that all changed when Slowik made the move to Houston.
Texans quarterback CJ Stroud walked into the NFL with the polish, poise and performance of someone who was well beyond the age of 21. Rarely, if ever, did Houston's rookie actually resemble a rookie. In fifteen games, CJ Stroud threw for 4,108 yards — 3rd-most ever by a rookie quarterback — and 23 touchdowns. His 273.9 passing yards per game were most in the NFL, and his 1.0% interception percentage was the best in the league, and the 14th-best mark in league history.
So, the question then becomes, when exactly did Bobby Slowik know that he and the Texans were dealing with burgeoning star? Well, during a recent appearance on the Green Light Podcast with Chris Long, Slowik shared how early he had this realization.
“I'd say probably, you know people might laugh at this, but honestly on offense Week 2 second half against Indianapolis,” Slowik shared with Long. “We were down three scores I believe and we got into a situation when we had to go throw the ball. From there on, the way he operated the game and got the ball out, and where he got the ball out too, and the way our receivers were running routes. Like as coaches you could see like, ‘oh we got something here.' You know, we got something that could be really good.”
The Texans lost that game 31-20, but it was one of six outings during Stroud's rookie season in which he threw for over 300 yards, despite the fact that he faced a season-high 19 pressures and was sacked a season-high six times. Stroud would get his revenge on the Colts in the final week of the regular season, when Houston clinched the AFC South title with a 23-19 win in Indianapolis. Stroud completed 20 of 26 pass attempts for 264 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 75-yarder to Nico Collins on Houston's first offensive play of the game
What's next for CJ Stroud and the Texans?
Most of the rest of the NFL caught onto Stroud after a brilliant performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — 30-42, 470 yards, 5 touchdowns, game winning TD pass to Tank Dell with 10 seconds left. After a performance like that one, it's hard to even conceive that Stroud has multiple years of growth ahead of him. But Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans knows that there's a lot more to come.
“Where can we see him grow in his second year? It’s his leadership, first and foremost — continue to become the leader that we want him to be,” Ryans said at his media availability after a recent practice, per Suzanne Haliburton of On3.“C.J. just has to be himself, and that’s what’s made C.J. a special player, is just him being himself. He’s [got] a great family, raised the right way, does all things the right way. He just continues to be himself and guys will follow him because how he works, how he shows up with a great attitude — that’s why guys will follow him.”
Houston enters the 2024 NFL season as considerable favorites to win the AFC South for the second-consecutive year.
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