- 4 hours ago
ITL with Reggie, Lopez and Figgy Fig dives into an interesting conversation about Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud and legendary former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. What similarities, if any, exist between the two quarterbacks, and is there anything from Brady's career that Stroud can apply to his own development? The guys discuss the expectations surrounding Houston's franchise quarterback and whether bringing up one of the greatest players of all time is a fair comparison or simply setting the bar too high.
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00:00But C.J. Stroud, I mean, has just been the focus of not just Texans talk.
00:04I think that there's been a lot of talk in a national sphere about how C.J. Stroud is balling.
00:08That's one of the benefits of having one of these island games where everybody's watching you in London.
00:13Yeah.
00:14And I said something yesterday, John.
00:16I blame you.
00:17You blame me.
00:18I blame you.
00:18I'll take the responsibility for this.
00:20I feel good about this.
00:21I haven't done very much grandstanding because I try not to be that guy.
00:26But, I mean, I think we generally have been pretty supportive of C.J. Stroud, even during the downsides.
00:31I think I was fairly supportive.
00:32I got a little bit of knocks for it.
00:33And I think this solidifies why.
00:36Because I mentioned a name that you said that I cannot.
00:38He who shall not be named.
00:39You said I cannot mention him.
00:40But I kind of want to talk this out, John.
00:42Yeah, let's talk about he who shall not be named.
00:46He may or may not have played a quarterback in New England.
00:51He may or may not have become a legend.
00:52Matt Castle, clearly, yes.
00:53But we're not going to mention his name.
00:55Brian Hoyer.
00:56I think he means Brian Hoyer.
00:57That's right.
00:58So you mentioned that name yesterday as it pertains and relates to C.J. Stroud.
01:02That's right.
01:03And some of the things he was doing.
01:05And I'm not going to say I had a sleepless night over it.
01:07But I did wake up this morning thinking, damn that, Reggie.
01:12Damn that.
01:12Now I got to look at those comparisons.
01:14Because in your mind's eye, if you put what you're seeing out of C.J. Stroud in a New England,
01:21let's just say an East Coast NFL team's jersey.
01:25He's kind of doing the same things.
01:27He kind of is.
01:29So I started digging in.
01:31And I want to get your thoughts on this.
01:32Because one thing more than anything else reminds me of he who shall not be named.
01:37And I want to get your thoughts on this.
01:39You and Figgy.
01:39Okay.
01:41EPA per play.
01:42This is your wheelhouse.
01:43But I do like that stat.
01:44That's one of the statistical points that I do believe in.
01:49EPA per play versus the blitz.
01:52C.J. Stroud is second best in the league.
01:54Correct.
01:55In the entire NFL.
01:56Success rate versus blitzes.
01:58He is fourth best in the league.
02:01So what C.J. Stroud does, just like that quarterback often did, he wants you to blitz.
02:08He wants you to blitz.
02:10Correct.
02:10Because that's when he is going to eat, as the kids like to say.
02:13Correct.
02:14He's going to die shot.
02:15He's going to cut you to pieces.
02:17He's going to slice you up, as you just said.
02:19No game felt like it demonstrated that better than this past game.
02:22100%.
02:22It's one of those things that got me to this place where I was like, hey, I know we talked
02:26about it, and this is that system, but everybody was like, yeah, but this is not.
02:30This is that system, but this is not that quarterback is the way that it's been talked about.
02:34And I was like, hey, guys, quiet as it's kept.
02:36He's kind of doing some of those things.
02:37And that was one of those, I mean, just the comfort and the confidence that he has going
02:41to the line, alerting, and just absolutely knowing, you're showing me something, here's
02:45the answer.
02:45You're showing me something else, here's the answer.
02:47Yeah, and I love that you brought the numbers to it that shows, not just, because EPA stands
02:51for expected points added, basically, like every play should be adding to your possibility
02:57of scoring points.
02:59Clearly, he's doing that to a high degree right now amongst his peers.
03:03Success rate is another thing where it's like, per this circumstance, did you have a play
03:08that was successful, right?
03:08If it's third and seven, you need to get seven yards.
03:11And he is doing that to a high degree, as you mentioned as well.
03:14Does that not very much sound like he who shall not be named?
03:16It very much does.
03:17And there's some other things.
03:18And Figgy, I'm interested on your thoughts on this as well.
03:21But let me throw a couple more things out there that I was just trying to say, man,
03:25is this true?
03:26Is this true?
03:26Is he doing that?
03:27And let's be very, very clear.
03:29Six games, man.
03:30I mean, it's been six games.
03:31But pretty good sample size.
03:33It's not a 17 or 19 year career, whatever he had.
03:38But the weapons, to me, are starting to look very similar to the weapons that he had.
03:44Mostly role player types that are kind of interchangeable in certain roles with that
03:50one stud, you know, that one stud being Nico Collins, who, by the way, only had three catches
03:55in this last game.
03:56But a lot of guys that catch the underneath stuff, that catch the over the middle stuff,
04:01that can run good routes, and, you know, the ball is going to be there when they can.
04:05Even the weapons, you know, because his weapons were by and large good, but they weren't, you
04:13know, top five wide receivers every year, you know?
04:16Did J-Lo just call Marvin Harris Jr. and Julian Edelman?
04:21It sounded like it.
04:22Jalen Knoll?
04:23I know he's not apples to apples, but yes.
04:26Jalen Knoll, by the way.
04:27Like, if you start getting into some of the advanced stats on him, like, right now, you
04:31look at him, and he is, I believe he has, like, he's top two, I believe top three, rather,
04:38in yards per route.
04:40That is to say, every, like, for every route that he runs, he is putting up, he's only bested
04:46in yards that he gets per route run by Mike Evans and Zay Flowers.
04:51There you go.
04:51While only having run 56% of the routes.
04:55Like, there's honestly a question to be asked of, do you implement him more?
04:58But I think that the ultimate point to what we're talking about more largely is, CJ Stroud
05:03is doing the thing that we talk about with a lot of quarterbacks, where we go, are you
05:06elevating the talent?
05:07And I think there's an argument to be made, and we've made this a long time, that Jalen
05:11Knoll probably could have, you probably could have gotten some of this out of Jalen Knoll
05:13prior, and everything kind of had to settle in, whether it's system or CJ Stroud, and it's
05:18comfortable with comfort, comfort with all these guys.
05:20But ultimately, we're here, and you're seeing, like, a Jalen Knoll that I don't know that
05:24very many people around the league anticipated him being like this.
05:27He is showing up, and this still feels like, it still feels like there's meat on the bone
05:31with Jalen Knoll.
05:31Talk less of, you know, some of these other guys, like Kayshawn Booty and Marvin Harris
05:36Jr.
05:36Clearly, there's still more to be taken, to be gotten from him, especially if your trade
05:40is to live up to the expectations that you have.
05:42Like, he's doing the thing right now, CJ Stroud, that you expect from a quarterback.
05:46Well, and then the final thing that I started thinking about is, you know, his calling card
05:51was efficiency and completion percentage.
05:55Right now, CJ Stroud, I think, is completing 65% of his passes, and then some.
06:01His last 10 years in New England, 64.9%.
06:05I mean, the efficiency, the completion percentage, the way that he's throwing the ball is very,
06:13very similar to something.
06:15Right, and so when I said, when I, I mean, I'm with you, right?
06:18It's very similar to, oh boy, that played in New England, right?
06:21Got a whole bunch of rings, considered the GOAT, right?
06:23I'm doing all of this to make it very clear who we're talking about without actually saying
06:27his name.
06:27Oh boy.
06:28But, and I want to be clear, when I was mentioning this, I was not thinking, hey, peak of that
06:33guy's, peak of that guy's tenure is what CJ Stroud is demonstrating.
06:37It's somewhere on, I think, more towards the edges of the bell curve.
06:40It's characteristics.
06:41But it is characteristics, and the question that this brings up is, how much more can
06:45you get out of this season?
06:47Because you mentioned it's six weeks in, and, you know, it's a relatively small sample size,
06:51all things considered.
06:52But it's early on in the season, and typically the way that time goes is that you build upon
06:57what you've gotten.
06:58Where can you get to with CJ Stroud this year is the question that I'm trying to allow myself
07:02to get to, because it only feels like, even recently, I mentioned it while watching this
07:06game, I felt like he was doing a lot of alerts.
07:08We've had a couple of stories recently about CJ Stroud having conversations and giving input
07:14that ultimately showed itself on the field to be beneficial.
07:17And now I'm not going to say it's like an old boy Thomas, right?
07:21And it's not him talking about, like, his name is Thomas.
07:25It's not like him having all of the answers and seeming like he knows exactly how to break
07:33down every single defense.
07:34That's starting to point to a dude who has an aptitude and a real understanding of what
07:40the quarterback position is and how to really dismantle defenses.
07:44And again, I'm not trying to jump too far out of the gym here, but this is a starting
07:48point at the very least.
07:49It's like, it does feel like he's coming into his own and it couldn't have come at a
07:52better time.
07:53Yeah.
07:53So, so do you feel, because I, after looking at all this and, you know, obviously the numbers,
07:58but some of the other things that seem to be similar, I do feel, and I'll just put it,
08:03I'll put it like this.
08:04We're seeing hints and characteristics.
08:07Do you believe that, Figgy?
08:10I think so, man.
08:11I think so.
08:12And I'm not sure if we need it.
08:14I mean, I'm sure everybody getting some credit too, because, you know, the office is doing
08:18good, but maybe, maybe this offense is good for him.
08:22Maybe, maybe Nick Haley do got a little something.
08:24I'm starting to see his name involved in head coaching candidates now.
08:28So maybe, I mean, maybe it is.
08:30And the question that actually comes up from that, right?
08:32You start, you start talking about Nick Haley name and head coaching.
08:36And we're very early on in there.
08:38The thing that's kind of beautiful about what it feels like.
08:40And again, early on, I'm trying to make sure I put all the disclaimers here, is that wouldn't
08:45even scare me, the possibility of Nick Haley moving on.
08:47Because it feels like so much of this is the collaborative effort, right?
08:52How much of this also feels like it came along when you had CJ Stroud say, hey, I think we
08:56need to be more aggressive and very clear, maybe upping, or like it felt like, what felt
09:00like to me, an upping of CJ Stroud's input in what was happening.
09:03And now you see them being able to do this.
09:05It's like, it starts to get to a point where I go, yeah, man, have somebody else jump in
09:08there and let, as long as CJ Stroud has a large voice in the process, I think that we're
09:12going to be good.
09:13Like, and that's kind of similar to Tom, I mean, Edward, Edward Brady, I mean, Edward,
09:20Edward, I wonder if they call him Edward.
09:21Oh, Eddie over there.
09:23Fast Eddie.
09:24Yeah.
09:24I don't think he was very fast.
09:25No, he wasn't.
09:26No, he wasn't.
09:27It seemed like that's kind of similar because he had a bunch of offensive coordinators.
09:31He did.
09:31And it didn't change anything from his career.
09:34One of the most interesting things to me is that you're getting this production out
09:38of receivers almost mix and match, almost week to week.
09:42And that's the thing to me that kind of goes like, all right, if these guys just do, you
09:48know, the baseline level of good route running and finding space, he will get them the ball
09:54and they will excel.
09:56You know, I've spent a lot of time talking about Xavier Hutchinson is basically at his
10:01ceiling, but that's all you need, you know, for, for the role that he now has, you know,
10:05the occasional, you know, nice chain moving type reception.
10:12And I want to make it clear though.
10:13Like, I don't want, I don't want this to then be, well, that means that you could just move
10:17on for folks and just put just the guys out there.
10:19Like, I think that they did that.
10:20We've, we've, we've, yeah, they did that.
10:22But I think we're, it kind of got worse as the years when the war, they did it too much.
10:26I will, I still remember what 2007 looked like for the Patriots.
10:30And I'm like, yeah, man, I still want to have Nico Collins on the outside and seeing
10:34how the incredible plays that you're having.
10:36I want to see Jay Leno have more of a role and seeing how that continues to allow CJ Stroud
10:43to really work his magic as he is in the early stages of doing, at least at this level that
10:48we're talking about.
10:48Um, it does, it does make you start thinking like, okay, when you're putting in as they've
10:54clearly done in the last, uh, last few weeks, like when you're putting in this effort to
10:58make sure that you have the talented receivers, like how much more can this get to?
11:01And it gives me a little confidence as we're doing this, this comparison of CJ Stroud to
11:06he who shall not be named.
11:07Like, does it feel like you have the opportunity?
11:10Cause I said it earlier, right?
11:11Like you want to make sure that this offense is elite.
11:13So you have an elite, uh, an elite side of the football when you get to the playoffs, does
11:17it make you feel like if that comparison is there, if you continue to see growth from
11:20one CJ Stroud towards the direction that we're talking about that by, by week 17, week 18,
11:26you could be talking about an elite offense that can go and compete with the likes of
11:29anybody that you have in the AFC.
11:31Well, it does because, uh, he's elite, uh, CJ Stroud.
11:35Okay.
11:35And you know, people that can hear him, Oh, you're calling him an elite quarterback.
11:38I mean, he has been the first six weeks.
11:40I'm not saying he is, you know, an elite, you know, all time going to be there year in,
11:46and you're out, but he's been elite.
11:47So if you, if he keeps playing at this level, then yes, by default, what did that guy do
11:52to his offense?
11:53He made it elite because it was him and his play and, and his big brain and all that thing
11:58on all those things.
12:00There is one element that, uh, that I'm your side eye, please.
12:03Cause I feel like it sounds like we're just gassing right now that I'm kind of side
12:06eyeing.
12:07And that is a use and personnel at the tight end position, because that was a staple.
12:12Now, you know, that was an absolute stapled.
12:14If not one tight end, two tight ends that could do both things, you know, whether it
12:19was block and receive or whatever.
12:21Um, now you get here and there, you get, you get some out of, uh, Dalton Schultz, but you
12:26still don't have a consistent, you know, tight end attack that, that can be a staple in that
12:31offense.
12:31Look at this Foster Moreau erasure.
12:33I mean, the man gives you two touchdowns and now he's not a receiver.
12:37But we're not consistently seeing that.
12:39You only got one tiny end, guys.
12:40He's like, yeah, yeah, no, I, I, I hear you on that.
12:44And even that feels like a usage around him.
12:46Like, again, I don't want to go too far, but like, he's starting to give me those vibes
12:50and maybe starting is even much, but it feels like you're starting to get those vibes, uh,
12:54in my estimation.
12:56And if he could continue to, if he can continue to grow on that, I think that that's where
13:00I continue to try and hear Nick, Nick Casario when he, when he says things and it sounds
13:04like maybe he's not giving CJ Stroud his credit.
13:07But I'm wondering, like, have they come to a place where one, clearly they're buying
13:11in, right?
13:11Like, I don't think you go and give a second round pick for Marvin Harris Jr.
13:14Right.
13:14Like, Hey, we think that you can maximize that.
13:16He can do that.
13:17Yeah.
13:17I'm wondering if that's not the way that they're starting to look about, look at him
13:20in the building.
13:21I come back to, I think it was with, was it with Brian T. Smith or one of those, one
13:26of
13:26those guys in, uh, in London or in England where, uh, they asked Nick Casario about, um,
13:33CJ Stroud and he, uh, and, uh, Casario said, we want to be our quarterback as long.
13:37As possible.
13:37Yeah.
13:38That's not the tone and tenor that we had heard prior.
13:40It feels like they are fully bought in on.
13:42Okay.
13:42I've seen it.
13:43They literally said this year, both the head coach and the general manager in the off season
13:49said, you know, he's our, basically said he's our quarterback this year.
13:52Now it's as long as possible.
13:54They're starting to see the same things he's.
13:56And most of the credit goes to CJ for buying in.
13:58Now that was one of the big questions that we had all along.
14:01So he still deserves most of the credit, but the combination of that.
14:04And now they're talking about as long as possible.
14:06By the way, two eight one says, are y'all talking about cerebral Eddie?
14:10Uh, I, yeah, he is very cerebral.
14:12Cerebral Eddie.
14:12I've heard that a lot.
14:13Yeah.
14:13I've heard that a lot.
14:14Yeah.
14:15Our guy, Eddie, this is going to be a thing now.
14:16I'm just going to call him Eddie.
14:17Eddie.
14:18Edward Patrick.
14:19Oh, EP over there, which is funny.
14:21Cause that's the, those are the initials of the system, right?
14:23The Earnhardt Perkins.
14:23That's right.
14:24Either way.
14:25Uh, no salute to CJ Stroud.
14:26I mean, I don't think that you can salute him enough with the way that he's playing right
14:29now.
14:29And of course, uh, you, you want to see that continue to grow, not stagnate or step backwards.
14:34And I feel, I feel pretty confident that we, that is what we will see as we continue, especially
14:38versus the New York giant.