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DJ Bien-Aime, ESPN
WHEN C.J. STROUD got home from a Week 2 practice, he freshened up and started watching tape on the Chicago Bears defense. Midway through the session, the Houston Texans‘ second-year quarterback started firing off text messages to his group chat of receivers and tight ends with thoughts on how to attack the opposition.
Stroud included the weekly cut-up clips that quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson and senior offensive assistant Bill Lazor sent him to point out their upcoming opponent’s weaknesses.
One message read “Be ready to cross the safety’s face,” foreshadowing what would take place in the Texans’ lone touchdown in the 19-13 win.
In the second quarter, the Texans faced second-and-28 from the Bears’ 28-yard line after wide receiver Nico Collins drew a penalty for slapping Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik thought the Bears would be in a two-high safety look, possibly running cloud coverage (Cover 6), and called the play the group chat had discussed.
Collins was the isolated wideout and had the post. When Stroud caught the snap, the defensive coverage unfolded as predicted. Collins crossed the face of safety Kevin Byard III and found the window behind linebacker Tremaine Edmunds as Stroud threaded the pass for the score.
That’s been the routine for Stroud and his playmakers since he ascended to starter. He fires texts off Wednesday through Saturday explaining how they will attack upcoming defenses, something he first started doing at Ohio State.
“I wanted to bring that to the league, to see if it works, and it has been,” Stroud told ESPN. “I just want to keep that going. Just trying to find those little clips of leverage and how coverages are run and stuff like that.”
The group chat is part of Stroud’s early success — in Year 1, being named the 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year and leading the Texans to their first playoff win since 2019. In Year 2, he’s led Houston to a 6-2 start and sits sixth in passing yards (1,948) and tied for 10th in touchdown passes (11).
The New York Jets are up next for “Thursday Night Football” (8:15 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime), but a shorter week means an earlier start to the text string.
Through two seasons, the group has talked about various defensive scenarios, from how to attack Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ Cover 0 blitzes to New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen’s red zone Tampa 2 defense and even taking advantage of three-time All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson‘s trail technique.
Those weekly discussions helped build the connection between Stroud and Collins, who was leading the NFL in receiving yards (567) through six weeks despite being placed on injured reserve (hamstring) after a Week 5 win over the Buffalo Bills.
DeMeco Ryans, who’s in Year 2 as the coach of the Texans, said this initiative shows how much Stroud is “dialed into winning.”
“I’ve been around a lot of different quarterbacks,” Ryans told ESPN. “The good ones, that’s the type of things that they do. Whether it’s group chats or getting the group together for meetings and watching extra film on their own, that’s what the great quarterbacks do. It’s all about the extra.”
THE IDEA STARTED during Stroud’s two-year stint as a starter at Ohio State from 2021 to 2022. His receiver group contained four future first-rounders: Marvin Harrison Jr., Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Instead of text, they communicated on Snapchat.
“Everybody was on Snapchat,” Stroud told ESPN. “It was cool to talk about looks. And then when you talk about it, and it happens on the field, it’s just super dope.”
Stroud threw for 85 touchdowns and 8,123 yards in his college career and finished second in the 2021 Heisman race. Harrison, Wilson, Olave and Smith-Njigba all had 1,000-yard seasons with Stroud.
“C.J. was taking control, especially his last year there, and making sure everybody’s on the same page and making sure we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing,” said Smith-Njigba, who’s in his second year with the Seattle Seahawks. “It was kind of like a little cheat sheet. It built my confidence, knowing that I know what these guys are doing and what to expect.”
Texans practice squad wide receiver Xavier Johnson, a walk-on at Ohio State as a running back and receiver (2019-2023), said the chat benefited him too.
Johnson and Stroud talked about a play where Johnson would have a checkdown out of the backfield in their opening-round game of the College Football Playoffs in 2022. They knew Georgia inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson was in a quarters coverage and would be one-on-one versus Johnson.
Instead of checking down, Johnson blew past Dumas-Johnson down the seam. Stroud floated the pass for a 37-yard touchdown with 49 seconds left in the second quarter to put Ohio State up 28-24 on New Year’s Eve.
“We saw the look, and we knew that they were doing something that we wanted,” Johnson told ESPN. “It was a slight audible from the play that was called in. I was like, ‘What do you want to do?’ He’s like, ‘Let’s take it.’ And so, we took it.”
Ohio State would go on to lose 42-41 to the eventual national champs, but it’s one of Stroud’s most memorable games of his career — finishing with 348 yards passing yards with four touchdowns on 23-of-34 passing. Four months later, the Texans selected him No. 2 overall in the draft.
STROUD DID VARIOUS things to earn his teammates’ trust his rookie year, even though he entered training camp in a competition with incumbent starter Davis Mills.
Stroud hosted a bowling event for the offense. He flew his receivers out to Los Angeles to run routes at UCLA. He invited teammates over to have his chef cook for them or watch movies. When the season arrived, Stroud added the group chat to his extra efforts toward team chemistry.
“It’s great, dude,” tight end Dalton Schultz told ESPN. “It correlates directly to game day because it’s the looks that we’re talking about. The whole discourse is just being on the same page. … [Stroud’s] the ultimate teammate, and he wants to win. Doing that, especially so young, it’s great. That’s leadership.”
Wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson‘s favorite example of the chat from last season came in Week 4 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Stroud was texting the group about how Peterson loved to undercut inside routes. Peterson had done so in the opener against San Francisco 49ers wideout Jauan Jennings on an in-breaking route to force an incompletion.
“C.J. showed us that they’re willing to undercut if we go with a heavy inside release,” Hutchinson said. “[He said] if you just keep going, he’ll eventually undercut you. If they undercut, you just keep it hot. And guess what happened?”
Late in the fourth quarter, Peterson tried to undercut Collins, so he changed his route and cut outside, catching Peterson off guard. Stroud delivered the ball, and Collins sprinted down the sidelines for a 52-yard touchdown to cap a 30-6 win.
Veteran wideout Robert Woods‘ touchdown against the Saints in Week 6 was Stroud’s favorite. Schultz had a deep over route to the middle of the end zone from the 6-yard line with Woods having a drag route. Stroud told the chat when Allen called for the Tampa 2 base, Saints middle linebacker Demario Davis would carry anything vertical. Stroud anticipated Davis would cover Schultz creating a void. He told Woods to sit in the hole and he would hit him.
“I sent that clip earlier in the week, so just cool to see it kind of pay off,” Stroud said. “There’s been moments like that this year.”
THE CHAT HELPED integrate newcomer Stefon Diggs into the mix when he came over from the Bills in April.
Unfortunately for the Texans, Diggs tore his ACL in the Texans’ 23-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday and is out for the rest of the season. Before the injury, Stroud had a passer rating of 104 when targeting Diggs and completed 73% of his passes. Diggs ranks seventh in catches (47) and second on the Texans in receiving yards (496).
“[Diggs] could see the looks that [Stroud] sees,” wide receiver Tank Dell said. “Of course we talk throughout practice, but sending a clip of the opposing team and actually looking at what they’re doing and [he sees] what seven is thinking. … Stef will tell [Stroud] what he sees and [Stroud] tells him what he sees. And they’d be making plays.”
Even in the Texans’ 34-7 loss to the Vikings in Week 3, the chat communication helped Stroud and Diggs convert a third down when Diggs ran a slant route against Flores’ Cover 0 blitz, according to Woods. Against the Colts, Diggs’ longest reception of the season (a 49-yard completion) came on a Stroud scramble that was aided by the chat.
“Just finding holes in the defense, knowing how the defense plays. Just staying alive and just knowing that their defense has some gaps in it that’s able to be exposed when the quarterback leaves the pocket,” Woods said of their use of the scramble drill. “We know how the safeties move, the linebackers move. We know how to manipulate the defense.”
A big difference from Year 1 to 2 of the group chat is the addition of Diggs. But the other change is the time of the messages.
As a rookie, Stroud would text at all times of day, according to Hutchinson. But in Year 2, Stroud tries to send most of the messages before it gets too late.
“This year I’ve been a little early bird. I’m getting a little more rest this year,” Stroud told ESPN with a smirk. “Last year I was a night owl. I’m learning to get my rest now.”
One of Stroud’s favorite parts of the chat is the closeness that it brings between the offensive skill players. It reminds him of the camaraderie at Ohio State.
“The brotherhood in that room is kind of what I had in college with Garrett, Chris, Jackson, Marvin and even all the way to our walk-ons,” Stroud said. “Everybody was close and you kind of look at this team like that.”
Seahawks reporter Brady Henderson contributed to this report.
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