With C.J. Stroud, I have been impressed the most by his ability to get the ball downfield. He’s not settling for underneath throws, looking to get the ball out of his hands. He’s launching deeper throws that inflict damage, and he’s connecting on them.
Admittedly, I’m late to the party on this one. With him being a youngster on a lesser team with an injury-riddle offensive line, I’ve been waiting for him to turn into a pumpkin. It hasn’t happened yet. He’s averaging 303 passing yards per game, with 6 TDs and no interceptions.
What the?
The usual model for young quarterbacks is to keep the training wheels on, building around safe throws. Let the rest of the team carry more of the load. Before you can win a game, it is said, you’ve first got to not lose it.
But Stroud isn’t playing like a rookie. He’s connecting on the big shots downfield. Nico Collins is averaging 107 yards per game, and at 19.5 yards per catch. Tank Dell is averaging 67 yards per week, and he’s at 16.5 per. Combined, those guys have caught 5 TDs.
This is not the usual model. As I was pointing out on Sunday, yards per catch so far is way down – the lowest in league history.
But Stroud is up at 12.9 yards per completion. That’s 2nd-best in the league, behind only Tua Tagovailoa and the high-flying Dolphins. Stroud is average a yard above all but two other quarterbacks.
The quarterback selected before Stroud, Bryce Young, is down at a league-low 7.5 yards per completion. That’s more in line with what you would expect from a rookie. The other first-year starter, Anthony Richardson, has also been connecting on downfield plays (he ranks 7th).
Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik might deserve most of the credit. He was in San Francisco when they were able to get great production out of some modest quarterbacks (Nick Mullens averaged 282 yards as a starter one year), and I think he’s putting some of those principals to work in this offense.
| QUARTERBACKS: YARDS PER COMPLETION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Com | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | YPC |
| Tua Tagovailoa, Mia. | 97 | 136 | 71.3 | 1,306 | 9 | 3 | 13.5 |
| C.J. Stroud, Hou. | 94 | 151 | 62.3 | 1,212 | 6 | 0 | 12.9 |
| Brock Purdy, S.F. | 81 | 112 | 72.3 | 1,019 | 5 | 0 | 12.6 |
| Jordan Love, G.B. | 74 | 132 | 56.1 | 901 | 8 | 3 | 12.2 |
| Matthew Stafford, LAR | 103 | 166 | 62.0 | 1,229 | 3 | 5 | 11.9 |
| Ryan Tannehill, Ten. | 67 | 108 | 62.0 | 788 | 2 | 4 | 11.8 |
| • Anthony Richardson, Ind. | 41 | 72 | 56.9 | 479 | 3 | 1 | 11.7 |
| Russell Wilson, Den. | 89 | 132 | 67.4 | 1,014 | 9 | 2 | 11.4 |
| Jared Goff, Det. | 91 | 131 | 69.5 | 1,029 | 6 | 3 | 11.3 |
| Kirk Cousins, Min. | 108 | 157 | 68.8 | 1,214 | 11 | 4 | 11.2 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo, L.V. | 64 | 94 | 68.1 | 709 | 5 | 6 | 11.1 |
| Justin Fields, Chi. | 79 | 123 | 64.2 | 861 | 7 | 5 | 10.9 |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 92 | 143 | 64.3 | 1,006 | 8 | 4 | 10.9 |
| Jalen Hurts, Phil. | 88 | 130 | 67.7 | 959 | 5 | 3 | 10.9 |
| Justin Herbert, LAC | 103 | 145 | 71.0 | 1,106 | 7 | 1 | 10.7 |
| Josh Allen, Buff. | 101 | 135 | 74.8 | 1,048 | 9 | 4 | 10.4 |
| Deshaun Watson, Cle. | 65 | 102 | 63.7 | 678 | 4 | 2 | 10.4 |
| Kenny Pickett, Pitt. | 77 | 127 | 60.6 | 803 | 4 | 4 | 10.4 |
| Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 78 | 105 | 74.3 | 794 | 4 | 1 | 10.2 |
| Sam Howell, Was. | 94 | 140 | 67.1 | 961 | 4 | 5 | 10.2 |
| Desmond Ridder, Atl. | 74 | 119 | 62.2 | 744 | 3 | 3 | 10.1 |
| Geno Smith, Sea. | 84 | 123 | 68.3 | 846 | 5 | 1 | 10.1 |
| Baker Mayfield, T.B. | 87 | 125 | 69.6 | 882 | 7 | 2 | 10.1 |
| Zach Wilson, NYJ | 72 | 123 | 58.5 | 712 | 4 | 4 | 9.9 |
| Trevor Lawrence, Jac. | 96 | 143 | 67.1 | 943 | 4 | 2 | 9.8 |
| Mac Jones, N.E. | 93 | 146 | 63.7 | 898 | 5 | 4 | 9.7 |
| Derek Carr, N.O. | 80 | 124 | 64.5 | 763 | 2 | 2 | 9.5 |
| Joshua Dobbs, Ari. | 87 | 123 | 70.7 | 814 | 4 | 0 | 9.4 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 97 | 136 | 71.3 | 908 | 4 | 1 | 9.4 |
| Daniel Jones, NYG | 90 | 131 | 68.7 | 765 | 2 | 6 | 8.5 |
| Joe Burrow, Cin. | 87 | 151 | 57.6 | 728 | 2 | 2 | 8.4 |
| • Bryce Young, Car. | 67 | 103 | 65.0 | 503 | 2 | 2 | 7.5 |
—Ian Allan