Houston Texans’ DeMeco Ryans Sees CJ Stroud’s Leadership Rise Ahead of Year 2

CJ Stroud displayed several attributes that made him the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year. With his arm talent, Stroud finished second all-time for the most passing yards by a rookie quarterback with 4,557 total passing yards. His desire to win ended the Houston Texans’ three-year playoff drought, as Houston recorded 10 regular season wins while advancing to the divisional round of the playoffs.

Leadership was another important attribute that made him a successful quarterback during his first season. Still, through the first two days of mandatory minicamp, Stroud’s captaincy has been one of the more pleasant developments for coach DeMeco Ryans.

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“It’s my job to hold guys accountable, as well as other guys,” Stroud said. “It’s just a ton of expectations, it’s a ton of things that we want to do this year, that we should do this year, but you have to slow down and learn to execute one play at a time.”

Ryans became enamored of Stroud’s leadership in the midst of a team scrimmage at the Houston Methodist Training Center, in which the offense was mediocre. Stroud called for a rally to help his team reset, and his message helped Houston’s offense improve its production.

Ryans believes a quarterback’s ability to get the best out of his teammates while holding them accountable is just as important as his ability to throw touchdown passes during the regular season and playoffs.

“I just think if it comes from me, it means a lot, and now I’m accepting that role more and more,” Stroud said. “I just accept it, have fun and be myself. I just want everyone around me to eat – I told them this sport can change your life if you do it the right way.

“Being responsible, doing the extra things outside of the facility, those things matter at the end of the day because all the expectations and all the pressure; it really doesn’t matter if you do those things.”

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Follow Coty M. Davis on Twitter at @CotyDavis_24.