Pro Football Focus recently released its QB tier rankings heading into the 2025 NFL season. One prominent sports figure wasn’t a fan of where Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud landed entering his third year as the face of the back-to-back AFC South champions.

Despite being the fastest player in franchise history to win 20 games and a pair of playoff games, Stroud was listed as the No. 14 quarterback heading into the upcoming season and in Tier 3B. Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd pushed back on the rankings, stating that the former Offensive Rookie of the Year should be at least one tier higher, if not two.

“I think (Stroud) either has to be the No. 1 Tier 2 quarterback or he’s darn close,” Cowherd said last week on The Herd. “He did pull back last year, but his offensive line was atrocious. He lost two of his three best receivers, and he still got his team to the playoffs and won a playoff game.”

Stroud’s numbers were pedestrian compared to his breakout rookie campaign in 2023. Still, no one would complain about a 20-touchdown season so long as the defense and run game delivered. Both did behind DeMeco Ryans’ play-calling and the emmergence of Pro Bowler Joe Mixon.

PFF mentioned that one of the bigger reasons for Stroud’s ranking was his “pressure-to-sack rate” behind a mediocre offensive line.

“After taking just 39 sacks as a rookie, that number ballooned to 63 in 2024, a problem that must be addressed moving forward,” PFF wrote.

The Texans have tried to fix that issue entering the 2025 season. Cam Robinson and Trent Brown were added as veteran names, while Houston perhaps found Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil’s replacement in Minnesota second-round pick Aireontae Ersery. Houston also moved off veteran Shaq Mason in favor of Laken Tomlinson and traded Kenyon Green to the Eagles in exchange for defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

In the “Solid Starters, but they need more help,” tier, Stroud was joined by Jordan Love (12), Baker Mayfield (13), Kyler Murray (15), Trevor Lawrence (16), Dak Prescott (17) and Tua Tagovailoa (18). Cowherd mentioned that entering Year 3, he’d rather have Stroud over all three Tier 3A QBs: Jared Goff (9), Geno Smith (10), Brock Prudy (11).

Stroud will have a chance to prove he’s closer to Tier 2 than Tier 3B when the Texans take on the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1 at SoFi Stadium.