Texans player under most pressure in 2024 NFL season

The Houston Texans were one of the true surprises of the 2024 NFL season, with the team going from drafting top-2 in April to the playoffs in January in large part because of the exceptional play from rookie quarterback CJ Stroud.

Drafted one pick after Bryce Young, Stround burst onto the scene in a major way right out of the gate, throwing for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns on 499 attempts while being named to the Pro Bowl and winning the AP and PFWA Rookie of the Year awards. He led Houston to a 9-6 record, with the team going 1-1 without him under center, and even took the Texans out of the Wildcard round and into the Divisional Round, even if they ultimately came up short to Baltimore when it mattered most.

Needless to say, Stroud is arguably the most popular player on the Texans now and in recent memory, taking up the superstar mantle from JJ Watt, but with great power comes great responsibility, and Houston's ceiling in 2024 will largely be defined by how their soon-to-be 23-year-old quarterback can carry himself as a second-year pro.

If Stroud is able to take things up a notch and continue to develop, then yeah, the Texans have to be widely considered the favorites in the AFC South for the foreseeable future, but if he struggles, fans and pundits alike will start to re-evaluate the 2023 season and question whether or not the OSU product is nothing more than a one-year wonder.

Fortunately, if there's one person who fully believes in Stroud, it's his head coach, DeMeco Ryans, who believes he can be a real-deal difference-maker in the future.

DeMeco Ryans expects a huge season from CJ Stroud in Year 2

While the jury is still out on what Stroud will look like this fall, one person who isn't concerned about his development is the man who matters most DeMeco Ryans, who will be tasked with coaching him this fall.

Discussing Stroud's breakout rookie season with reporters in Indianapolis at the NFL combine, Ryans celebrated Stroud for his development since college, noting that the team felt they landed an impact player based on how he carried himself at Ohio State University.

“Well, it started right here at the combine when we were evaluating young players. You'd see C.J. come into our room in formal interviews and just see he had that calmness about him in the room. You can tell, for me, I could tell instantly if a guy has what it takes. I saw that in C.J. when I first sat down and he began to speak to us about his background and his college experience. Then, you see his teammates and how they spoke about C.J,” Ryans told reporters earlier this year via Click2Houston.

I remember being here last year, and every Ohio State teammate that sat in our room, they spoke highly of C.J. and the type of leader he was and what he meant to them, and the things that he did to those guys to help them. You can't hide. Your true character always will show, and it showed that C.J. was a really great guy, raised the right way, and he was the same guy throughout the entire year. He didn't change. That's a true testament to his upbringing, his family, his parents, and the way they raised him.”

Asked about the pivotal sophomore season Stroud's career, Ryans let it be known that he was very impressed with number seven put on tape and believes that he can take a ajor leap from Year 1 to Year 2.

“With CJ, the things that stood out from the skills standpoint is as we all saw him, he can put the ball anywhere he needs to in a very accurate manner. He did a very good job of just his demeanor. I think at that quarterback position when you have a calm demeanor and your teammates see that, it's a confidence. It's a calm confidence that kind of exudes throughout the entire locker room, and that's what C.J. has,” Ryans noted.

“And I think those are the skills that allowed him to be very successful as a rookie and have one of the best rookie seasons for a quarterback in our league's history. Very excited about what C.J. did this year, but I'm also even more excited about the things that he can improve on and where he can get better, continuing to lead our team this next year. Definitely looking for a huge jump in his growth from year one to year two.”

Will Stroud be able to reach the same level of player he accomplished last season, let alone take things up a notch in Year 2 in Ryans' system? Only time will tell, but it's safe to say the Texans' success in 2024 will largely be defined by Stoud's play under center.