- 2 months ago
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00:00Part of things here, though, is obviously C.J. Stroud.
00:03He is the main topic of conversation with this team,
00:10the one that a lot of people believe everything hinges on,
00:14which is not something that isn't normal,
00:17but it feels like even more so with this Texans team.
00:21There are a lot of people who just have the feel of this team
00:26would be a straight-up Super Bowl team if their quarterback could just get it together.
00:34The arrow's pointed up.
00:36And that seems to be the thought of many people.
00:39And, Clint, you have been able to see just about every throw.
00:42You've called all the preseason games.
00:44You have been able to see a lot all the way going back to mandatory minicamp.
00:49You've been able to get out there and see them with your own eyes.
00:56How do you feel his training camp, his offseason, preseason,
01:04everything that has led up to, all right, man,
01:07we're two weeks out before you faced Josh Allen and the Bills,
01:11and everything coming into this offseason was about what is C.J.?
01:16Where is he?
01:18Where is he mentally?
01:19Where is he physically?
01:20You know, everything that's happened.
01:22This contract has been a big conversation.
01:24His play, all of that.
01:25How do you feel like things have gone for C.J. Stroud up to this point,
01:30offseason, training camp, preseason, everything?
01:33Yeah, look, I think things have gone as good as they possibly could have
01:38for C.J. Stroud.
01:40Again, I'm not one that minimizes the impact that the way last year ended has,
01:45not on the organization but on the quarterback.
01:48He came into camp in a very fragile position.
01:51The way you end the season and no contract extension, right?
01:55Obviously, there's some pressure there.
01:57There's some adversity there that you've got to overcome.
01:59You get into training camp, really all that matters is rubber meets the road.
02:03You start taking snaps.
02:04You start quarterbacking this team.
02:05And he avoided any rough patches, really.
02:09I mean, there was not one day where you were just like,
02:11good God, he was making some poor decisions.
02:13Good God, he wasn't handling pressure.
02:15Good gosh, he was putting the ball in harm's way.
02:18You know, there was no stretch that was even bad for C.J. Stroud,
02:24which means he navigated that training camp in a way in which he avoided the disaster.
02:31He avoided the questions.
02:32He avoided all the doubt creeping back in, which I think is a huge plus.
02:37Now, he wasn't exposed to the elements, per se, very often.
02:43And we'll see whether his offensive line can protect him or not.
02:48His play caller can create some easy throws, protect him with play calling.
02:53We'll see if he and the offense from a communication perspective can get that piece down.
02:59None of that was going to be discovered in the preseason
03:03because you don't see defenses game planning for you specifically.
03:09So, week one, you better believe it.
03:12We're going to see Buffalo crowding the line of scrimmage,
03:14making C.J. Stroud think, make the center think and communicate
03:18and applying pressure that way.
03:20They're going to disguise.
03:21They're going to be really good at it.
03:22They're going to do a lot of different things to really apply pressure
03:27to the processes of Nick Cayley, C.J. Stroud, and Evan Brown, if you will.
03:34This offense, they're going to apply pressure to them in that way,
03:38and we'll see how they handle it.
03:40That ultimately is going to be the tell-all
03:43of whether all these different moves are going to work.
03:45Yep.
03:45And I just don't know how much better it could have gone, really.
03:50Yep, that's right.
03:51To your point, if you could have drawn up, all right,
03:56this is what C.J.'s offseason is going to look like.
03:59He laid low.
04:01Didn't really hear a lot of them.
04:04He seems like that's one of the biggest things, right?
04:09And I agree with you.
04:10You can't really judge on like, all right, is he going to be what appeared
04:17to be confused sometimes by some of the coverages
04:20or where he wants to go with the ball like he did at the end of the season
04:23against the Patriots?
04:25Those are things that you're probably not going to be able to determine a lot,
04:29maybe a little bit in practice when D'Amico and his crew is trying to do some things.
04:35I don't know how much in the preseason games
04:37and even in the joint practices with the Raiders and the Panthers,
04:40you could simulate that.
04:42But one of the things that jumped out is how much more comfortable
04:49and how much more in control he seemed to be
04:52in what was going on with the offense.
04:55That was something that – and maybe even the bought-in factor too,
04:59if you want to throw that in there as well.
05:01That, to me, seemed to jump off watching him every day of seeming comfortable,
05:07seeming like he knows where he's going, where he wants to go,
05:12and there is a belief in the offense.
05:14I think that, to me, is something you can pick up
05:18and look at during the offseason day-to-day, that part of it,
05:22which was, I think, something that was not in the cards for them last year
05:27leading up to the start of the season.
05:29Well, again, I still don't know exactly what the issues were last year,
05:32but I came away from the first or second practice with like,
05:36hey, there's something not right, and it never changed in training camp.
05:39I would say that this year that was not the case.
05:42It appeared that the joy was back, the being vocal piece was back,
05:51the lack of sulking, if you will, or the lack of being frustrated, if you will.
05:57It seemed like it was a much better camp and none of that was present.
06:01That is definitely a huge plus.
06:04You know, this offseason is about C.J. Stroud to a certain degree.
06:08I think this team is only going to go as far as C.J. Stroud can take them.
06:14The other piece to that, though, is that we've got to figure out
06:18if it's real is that run game, right?
06:20The reality of it is in Houston, C.J. gets a lot of the run,
06:24but the way they've built this thing
06:25and what they desire to be offensively
06:29is not necessarily a C.J. Stroud quarterback production-driven team.
06:37That's not who they strive to be.
06:38That's not who they set out to be.
06:40That's not how they've built this football team.
06:43And so the reality of it is, is this all starts on Sunday against Buffalo.
06:49The reality of it is, is can you run the football or not?
06:53Can you run the football, can you live in a too tight end set
06:57and can you live running the football first
07:01and getting downhill and minimizing risk?
07:06Can you, can you literally be, can that be your identity as an offense?
07:12And then we get to the C.J. Stroud piece.
07:15You know, then, then we get to the ownership
07:18and, and, you know, can he, can he handle pressure better
07:22and can he communicate and he, can he handle big moments better?
07:25Sure.
07:26That's absolutely a piece to this thing.
07:28But the reality of it is, Ron, is this is about
07:32what Nick Casario and D'Amico Ryan set out to be and do offensively.
07:36And it doesn't start with C.J. Stroud.
07:38I believe they're only going to go as far as C.J. takes them.
07:41But it doesn't start with C.J. Stroud.
07:43That damn, that damn offensive line.
07:45And, um, and really, to be honest with you,
07:49we've talked about the first month of the season.
07:53There ain't, there ain't a team in there
07:54that you shouldn't be able to run the football against.
07:56If you're going to be a run first physical,
07:58if you're going to base your entire draft
08:00on drafting guys that, that, that reshape
08:03your offensive line room from a physicality perspective,
08:07the Cowboys, now they're, they're good on paper now.
08:09They've made some moves.
08:11The Bengals have made some moves,
08:12but they're not approving just run, stop, and run stuff in defense.
08:17And so they better be able to run the football.
08:20Yes.
08:20We're going to talk about C.J. Stroud.
08:22It's going to get back to C.J. Stroud.
08:23I think he's had a really good off season.
08:25Um, but boy, if they can't run the football
08:29and they all of a sudden put this thing in C.J.'s hands,
08:32sure isn't how they built it.
08:34But besides for me, I see 7, 1, 3, 5, 7, 2, 4, 6, 10 people jumping in.
08:40Someone else agreed with you.
08:41The element we are missing is how Montgomery helps C.J.'s confidence as well.
08:47I think that that's what Clint was, was touching there.
08:50My, I think he's had damn near the perfect off season
08:54that you would want him to have.
08:56But outside of, all right, we'll see, you know, what happens
09:00once teams start to try to game plan for them and to attack them
09:04and try to take away David Montgomery and Woody Marks
09:07and put it in to the hands of C.J. in this passing game.
09:13Outside of that, the one question I wonder about with C.J. is,
09:20I think to me the biggest difference we're seeing is
09:24Clinton Tyler, the personality of C.J. has shifted.
09:28Right, like he's, he's appeared to be much more no-nonsense,
09:33more business-like, the fun and games are really not there anymore.
09:39Short, sweet, not even sweet at times, but short, getting out of there.
09:44Like you can see, more focus, you can see this is a different,
09:49this is a different version of C.J. than we've seen.
09:53Even at Ohio State all the way up into the first three years.
09:57My one question is, is that him being himself?
10:04Because I do think it's important, I think it's important
10:07that you are comfortable in your own skin and you be yourself.
10:10I don't think you, I don't think you should be trying to be somebody else.
10:15I think you get in, you get in trouble when you try to be somebody.
10:18I want C.J. to go out there and be himself.
10:22Now this is very different than what he has shown us and you can understand
10:26from a human standpoint, everything that has happened has been said about him
10:30that he would make a shift.
10:32I just, I hope this shift that we're seeing is coming natural
10:37and this isn't him trying to be this.
10:41Because I don't think that's a good thing either.
10:44If he is, if he is shifting to this and it's not natural.
10:48I think whoever your personality is, is who you, is who you need to be.
10:53He's got to lead and go out there and be himself.
10:55And I, that's the only thing, because it is, it is a real difference
10:58in what we're seeing from him from a personality standpoint.
11:01Yeah.
11:01Look, I mean, hell, I've said it from jump.
11:03I just, I think, I think a hardened C.J. Stroud is, is, is a better version
11:09of the quarterback.
11:10I just, I think, I think the, you know, call it emotions on the sleeves
11:17or not so guarded or whatever, however you want to couch it.
11:20I mean, I want my quarterback begging and pleading to stay on the field
11:24on fourth down with the game and on the line.
11:26I want my quarterback, when things ain't right on the sideline,
11:30I, I'm okay with you getting in that ass of that offensive coordinator
11:33saying, come on, man, get this stuff, get this stuff right.
11:34Or the center or whoever it may be.
11:36You know, I'm, I'm, I'm good with, with coming to the,
11:39the post-game press conference and, and being like, hey, man,
11:42obviously I'm not going to say it, but I'm going to be short with y'all today
11:45because I'm pissed off.
11:45I'm going to get up out of here.
11:46Right.
11:47I'm, I'm okay with that part of it.
11:48That shows me that you care and that, that to your point, that,
11:51that you're real.
11:52And so, yeah, I'm, I see what you're talking about.
11:56I sensed it, especially later in training camp and, and I'm with you.
11:59I hope it, I hope it continues.
12:01I hope it's like text line coming in.
12:04It's important to remember he's 24 and a high scrutiny career.
12:07I think he's just maturing as an adult.
12:09Cornbread on YouTube said CJ looks like he has control and that is himself.
12:15He is just letting y'all let just not letting y'all know anymore.
12:19Um, I, again, I hope so.