Would Jon Gruden Have Benched C.J. Stroud In The Texans vs. Patriots Game?

Former Houston Texans player Seth Payne ponders some points that Jon Gruden made about Texans QB C.J. Stroud’s horrible performance in the Texans vs Patriots playoff game.

26 comments

  2. C j doesn't have any veteran moves… last week in pittsburg aaron rogers played with some substance on his hand, you could see the dirt sticking to his hand during a broadcast… but also I haven't seen c j spike the ball in a critical situation, fake snap… he needs someone to teach him to be savvy.I'm

  4. It was hard to believe but all season the OC performance and play calling was worse than last year. There was a complete lack of imagination and a habit of running between the tackles just to get stuffed over and over and over. That being said, we've repeated the David Carr disaster with Stroud. He's taken too many hits, too many injuries and too many concussions. He's not the QB of the future

  5. At least Gruden understands that the Offense surrounding him was the worst in the entire NFL. Nobody can name an offense worse then

    Our line with injuries

    WR 1 Xavier Hutchinson
    WR 2 Jayden Higgins
    Slot Kirk

    TE Cade Stover

    RB Woody Marks

  6. I began to doubt CJ last year after he threw a touchdown to Tank Dell to take lead against KC in the playoffs. Dell suffered a gruesome injury and CJ wept on the sidelines and didn't play the same after in a loss.. He showed his his softness then. There's no crying in football.

  8. You can fix arm strength, decision making, learning to play in bad weather, etc, but you can’t fix a qb that has the “yips”. His demeanor during the first half tells you all you need to know. Should have been pulled at halftime. He had a blank look on his face. They ruined him the same way Carr was ruined. Lack of an oline. When will they LEARN!!!

  10. Those cushy domes make u weak. Football should be outside , but i live in south of Houston it’s to damn hot. But they never open the stadium. 3 out of 4 teams left open roofs.

  12. Why can’t CJ be someone else’s problem? We keep acting like he’s some sort of incredible player when all he does is make baby face pout expressions. Let’s get a new quarterback. Maybe he can play for someone else who is ok with 7 turn overs and losing.

  14. Stroud looked good his first year but has shown regression the last 2 years…he doesn’t have that confidence/swagger/killer instinct to lead the team and needs to go. Oh….Texans fans should also DEMAND DeMeco Ryans be fired….he is a disgrace and owes Houston fans a big apology for his “Pay me Rick” stunt. Handle pay issues off the field behind closed doors. I have zero confidence in the silver spoon owner of the Texans for that hiring decision.

  15. The Mcnairs will have to decide how bad they want a superbowl. They may have 1 or 2 years left with the core defensive group. There really isnt time to scarp and start over with a qb. They will either have to put the people around stroud to make him better or decline his 5th year option and sign a solid veteran qb to a short term deal with 1st round picks and the money from strouds 5th year option.

  16. CJ has regressed so much since his rookie season I do not see him as fixable. Maybe if you can get Mike McDaniel to come in similar to what he did with Tua.

  18. I think CJ should start diversifying his skills more. He's seen doing the exact same moves each time, so the other team just rushes him, and he's either sacked or fumbles or the ball batted away. Imo CJ should learn to call his own plays, and if he's good at it then wtf are the coaches gonna do but be glad he suceeded.

  20. I must be missing something….if Shultz and Collins would have been there, if the balls weren't overthrown,under thrown or just out right missed the mark would the poor decisions not have occurred? This was a continuation of the Pittsburg game….he simply is not the guy!

  22. The shame is, Woody is actually a good running back. It's just that he's on Houston. Every smart team is going to sell out to stop the run and make C.J. beat them.

  24. I think I saw an old video once where Jon Gruden tells a pre draft Case Keenum on his show that he needs to practice throwing a wet football around to prepare for the NFL.

  25. Everyone seems to miss the plot when they point out how C.J. has regressed since his outstanding rookie season. Actually, C.J.’s true weakness has always been present, as have his known strengths. The only difference between his 2023 rookie season and the past two years (2024–2025) is that his primary weakness—one no one has really talked about—has been secretly exposed.

    It all has to do with his S2 cognitive test. This test measures football-related cognitive skills and reveals how a player's brain is wired to perform under pressure: perception speed, search efficiency, tracking capacity, visual learning, instinctive learning, decision complexity, distraction control, impulse control, and improvisation. C.J. scored 18% (18 out of 100).

    When his score was brought up prior to the draft, I believe C.J. knew deep down this was an issue, but it hadn't been a problem at Ohio State because he was rarely placed in situations against elite defensive teams. He also had a great offensive line, a strong running game, and elite NFL-ready WRs. The exceptions occurred twice—against the nation’s best defensive team (Michigan)—and Ohio State lost both games in 2021 and 2022. Prior to those two losses, Ohio State had won eight straight against Michigan.

    C.J.’s low S2 score shows up in a big way when he faces a stronger defensive team or when the offensive line loses the battle in the trenches—stuffing the run game and forcing the offense to become one-dimensional. Forcing a passing game, especially when the Texans’ WR1, WR2, and WR3 are all injured, makes matters worse. He is then forced to rely on his mental instincts under a strong pass rush, with receivers tightly covered and/or distractions from crowd noise or weather. All these conditions can create a complex situation that challenges C.J. to make the right decision. It’s like a perfect storm.

    When C.J. is between a rock and a hard place and forced to make tough decisions, his S2 score of 18 out of 100 becomes obvious. Some of his choices look like something not even a high-school quarterback would attempt. That 18/100 was never an issue at Ohio State because he had a stout offensive line, a strong running game, and an abundance of elite NFL-ready WRs—all top-12, first-round talent. Under those conditions, S2 doesn’t matter.

    But when he faces a bull rush… Houston, we have a problem.

    C.J. struggles to process when to take a sack, when to throw the ball away, who to throw the ball to, and where to run. He looks like a deer caught in the headlights. Even the way he speaks shows how slowly he processes information. He spent the entire year trying to memorize when to throw the ball away, but in real time, he can’t consistently recognize when to simply take the sack.

    If C.J. had Collins, Dell, and Schultz healthy as his primary weapons, this wouldn’t even be a discussion. But with all of them injured, no running game—and since he’s not going to run to keep the defense honest—you get the perfect storm.

    Yes, C.J. has things he needs to improve. His decision-making is not instinctive at an NFL level, but he’s a Top-5 quarterback when he has time to throw and 2–3 elite receivers available. Nobody throws a softer, more catchable ball than C.J.

    To elevate him:

    1. Fix the offensive line to allow both the run game and pass protection.

    2. Get a new OC or a strong QB mentor—give him more plays that roll him out of the pocket or allow receivers to find soft spots instead of running predictable scripted routes directly into defenders.

    3. Create a bull-rush decision-making drill to force C.J. to make fast reads and speed up his internal clock.

    If the Texans fix these weaknesses, C.J. will be a Top-5 quarterback—and everyone will jump right back on the bandwagon.

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