Before the start of last season, our annual quarterback carousel primer centered around an idea that was met with great friction from the general football community: What if Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud did not bounce back? At the time, it seemed easier to blame issues plaguing the former Offensive Rookie of the Year on play-calling than on a more systemic blend of roster construction, injuries and some of Stroud’s on-field preferences that may alter the dynamic of a play-call sheet and the weapons at a coordinator’s disposal. Few thought that Will Anderson Jr. would be the only 2023 Texans draftee walking away with a mega-extension last offseason.
Now, Stroud sits front and center as the biggest pending question that the 2026 season will answer. Stroud is straddling the dividing line between a $60 million per year contract and a stint in the Sean McVay–Kyle Shanahan school of quarterback rehabilitation (maybe that’s harsh, given that Stroud, even at his supposed “worst” was a top-12 quarterback by EPA per play and is on a team coached by a former linebacker who would prefer Stroud not be throwing the ball 30-plus times per game). Texans general manager Nick Caserio loudly rejected the idea of trading Stroud at the scouting combine, which pushed most of his chips onto the table amid an offseason where contenders like the Vikings may have paid for the privilege of rostering Stroud themselves.
