Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans will open up the preseason Aug. 10 against the New England Patriots.
It’s not yet known whether Stroud will start under center for veteran Davis Mills under first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans.
“We’ll see. When the time comes for us to declare someone as the starter, we’ll do that when it’s the right time for us,” Ryans told reporters on Thursday.
Selected No. 2 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, it has long been expected that Stroud would start for the Texans out of the gate. Whether it’s to create competition moving forward in Texans training camp or something else, that’s no longer a foregone conclusion. This comes a short while after the Carolina Panthers named No. 1 pick Bryce Young as their starting quarterback for Week 1.
A former star at Ohio State, Stroud had impressed during offseason workouts leading up to the start of training camp. In fact, Ryan had previously called his performances during OTAs “very eye-opening.”
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C.J. Stroud college stats: 69% completion, 8,123 passing yards, 85 TD, 12 INT
As for Mills, he struggled big time for the Texans as a sophomore in 2022. The former third-round pick from Stanford threw 17 touchdowns against 15 interceptions while posting a 3-10-1 record in 14 starts.
The situation will continue to play out during camp. But it would not be a surprise to see both quarterbacks get a start during the preseason before Ryans and Co. make a final decision. What we do know is that the Houston Texans selected Stroud No. 2 in April to be their quarterback of the future. How soon that comes to fruition remains to be seen.