Stroud burst onto the scene in 2023, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors while leading the league in passing yards per game with 273.9.
He hasn’t been as productive the past two seasons — and Houston’s offense has certainly taken a back seat to the team’s stellar defense — but Stroud has nonetheless led the Texans to three straight playoff berths for the first time in franchise history. He completed a career-high 64.5% of his attempts last season while throwing for 3,041 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
It wasn’t flashy, but Stroud’s style of play complemented DeMeco Ryan’s suffocating defense well. The problems that led to outside speculation came to the fore in the playoffs.
After fumbling twice throughout the regular season, Stroud had an incredible five fumbles (for a loss twice) in Houston’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also threw a nail. He then looked even more lost against the New England Patriots the following weekend, throwing the aforementioned four picks and posting a terrible 28.0 rating to make a win all but impossible.
That image will be etched in the minds of football fans until Stroud can take the field again.
However, Caserio has seen enough of the most successful three-year run in the club’s history to throw his support behind Stroud, far more concerned with how his QB recovers than the perceived drop in his stock in a snowy loss at Foxborough.
“You’re going to make good plays, you’re going to have bad plays,” Caserio said. “You’re going to have good games, you’re going to have bad games. OK, how do you bounce back? How do you handle it? I mean, this league is a one-game-at-a-time proposition, and how you handle it, every situation will ultimately determine your success and longevity. … We have a lot of confidence in CJ and we’re happy with him. Our quarterback.”
With the trade door slamming again, the Texans have plenty of options to move forward with Stroud. They have to decide whether or not to exercise Stroud’s fifth-year option before May 1. Otherwise, 2026 will be the last year under his rookie contract. Given Caserio’s belief in the signal-caller, an extension could also be on the table.
Asked about the possibility of long-term deals regarding Stroud and fellow 2023 QB Will Anderson Jr., Caserio chose to keep specific information in-house.
“We haven’t usually talked publicly about contracts and anybody’s specific circumstances,” he said. “I would say those two players are very good players. They’ve helped our program win a lot of football games. We’ll take it one day at a time and try to piece the team together and ultimately try to do what we think is best for our team and organization. So there’s no timetable for anything, but we’ll do business as business happens.”