The Houston Texans last saw the playoffs when Bill O’Brien was roaming the sidelines and playing general manager behind the scenes. The Texans have barely won more than 10 games in the three seasons since, which makes the talk about playoffs awaken everyone’s inner Jim Mora — even in May.
According to Trevor Sikkema from Pro Football Focus, if the Texans miss the playoffs in 2023, the chief factor will be because of No. 2 overall quarterback C.J. Stroud.
The Texans are still in the final stages (they hope) of a rebuild following their massive trade last year. They have since turned that trade capital into quarterback C.J. Stroud and pass rusher Will Anderson Jr. in the 2023 NFL Draft, whom they hope to be their offensive and defensive cornerstones. But they just don’t have the total team talent yet. While their offense features promising young players, there will likely be a big adjustment period for Stroud, who goes from being surrounded by five-star skill position players and offensive linemen at Ohio State to a Texans team that is still finding its offensive identity beyond Dameon Pierce being a wrecking ball out of the backfield.
What Sikkema wrote tracks with a CBS Sports evaluation of what Stroud’s worse-case scenario would look like in a complete season. If the entire success of the team falls upon Stroud, and he gets no help from either the defense or the run game, then it could force the former Buckeye into making mistakes that wreck his stat line and the Texans’ place in the standings.
However, Stroud won’t be in a Davis Mills-esque situation in terms of lack of supporting cast just on the offensive line alone. Houston has its best shot at a five-man combination with left tackle Laremy Tunsil, left guard Kenyon Green, right guard Shaq Mason, and right tackle Tytus Howard. The Texans simply have to identify the best center among their interior linemen, and then Houston will have a wall to protect Stroud and a vanguard for Pierce.
