![CJ Stroud]()
CJ Stroud isn't afraid of the spotlight at all. The Houston Texans rising second-year quarterback could've laid low this offseason if he wanted to. Instead, Stroud is out here launching hot takes into the stratosphere like he unleashes perfectly-thrown deep balls down the field.
On the heels of arguably the best rookie season in NFL history, Stroud's ball-knowing acumen is not really in question. That said, even the best players can have their share of misses when it comes to evaluating their peers, or trying to become executives after the fact. Just look at John Elway's track record as Broncos GM. Other than scooping up Peyton Manning in free agency and drafting Von Miller, it wasn't great! Michael Jordan was notoriously bad as an NBA personnel executive, too.
So with all that established, and with
a hat tip to NFL dot com for unearthing Stroud's latest spicy take as of Sunday, let's dive into the run he's on. Much of this comes from this linked
Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast episode, which is also embedded at the end of this article. How about kicking things off with Stroud throwing shade at New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers — and how Rams signal-caller Matthew Stafford would've won "three or four" Super Bowls in Green Bay to Rodgers' one if given the same opportunities.
https://twitter.com/YungRey23/status/1797499976622489842
Sounds based, but Stafford
did leave the Lions after 12 seasons and immediately won a Lombardi Trophy with the Rams to match Rodgers' career total. Stroud wasn't done there when it came to Rodgers, indicating he'd rather have Eli Manning's career due to his two Super Bowl rings — both of which came against Tom Brady and the mighty Patriots.
https://twitter.com/PFN365/status/1798022078890750063
In terms of consistency and individual greatness, there's no question Rodgers had the better career. However, when Eli won his second championship with the Giants in particular, he had one of the most clutch seasons of all-time. He willed the G-Men to a 9-7 record, throwing for almost 5,000 yards in a 16-game regular season.
Five of New York's nine wins were fourth-quarter comebacks; six required game-winning drives. Oh yeah, then in four playoff starts, Eli averaged over 300 yards passing per game, led two fourth-quarter rallies, threw nine TDs to only one interception, and took home Super Bowl MVP honors.
Now, looking ahead to the immediate future: recently-extended Texans wideout Nico Collins is, in Stroud's opinion, comparable to Houston legend/Hall of Famer Andre Johnson, is a "generational talent" and is among
five pass-catchers Stroud considers No. 1 wide receivers among his current skill position group.
https://twitter.com/JamesRoyNFL/status/1798067944582451235
https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1798059749759660163
Stroud pointed to how stacked his supporting cast was in college, with the likes of Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Marvin Harrison Jr. to throw to at any given time. He believes he has a similarly favorable situation in the NFL. Still, five WR1s in Houston is a stretch. I'll concede Collins,
proven superstar Stefon Diggs, and that's about it. Need to see more from Tank Dell, John Metchie, and Noah Brown (??) to consider all of them WR1-caliber.
Next: The Dallas Cowboys are always a fun topic of conversation. Buckle up and brace yourselves for these next couple tidbits, where Stroud refers to the Cowboys as "weak a**" and drops a very controversial list of the NFL's best QBs.
https://twitter.com/Stroud4AllPro/status/1798873289646887045
Almost a blink and you'll miss it clip right there. Nevertheless, this is particularly notable because Stroud has spent a lot of time Cowboys All-Pro defender Micah Parsons in the offseason. Whether it's been
witnessing Parsons take up sumo wrestling, or
bantering back and forth on NFL Draft night, the Lone Star State studs have formed quite the dynamic off-field duo. Not to mention, Stroud's scorched-Earth take on the top five QBs in the NFL actually included none other than Dallas' Dak Prescott!
https://twitter.com/sgellison/status/1797083127065596112
Who's "weak" on the Cowboys in Stroud's eyes? I'm sure I don't know. It's either a self-own on Stroud's part that further proves Dak can't get it done in the postseason, or it's perhaps a reflection on
their head coach Mike McCarthy and/or owner Jerry Jones. Whatever the case, I'm here for it, because Stroud's Texans seem poised to take over as Texas' best NFL team. What I can't get behind is leaving my guy Joe Burrow off the top five list just because of a couple injuries. That's a debate for another day, though.
I'm sure there are more fire Stroud takes floating around out there somewhere. That's plenty to chew on for now. Bless the young man for adding fuel to the offseason fire, which is barely flickering as the long wait to training camp in late July begins in earnest when mandatory minicamps wrap up this coming week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLaeTUnN79o
