Cleveland, OH
Texans’ C.J. Stroud questionable with injury that once plagued start of Ohio State career
COLUMBUS, Ohio — C.J. Stroud’s first year as an NFL starting quarterback has some parallels to his first year as Ohio State football’s starter.
The rookie has been listed as questionable with a right shoulder injury for the Houston Texans’ home opener against the Indianapolis Colts. It’s a matchup between him and Anthony Richardson, the Nos. 2 and 3 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. The same shoulder once plagued him during a rocky start to the 2021 season at Ohio State.
Stroud’s first three games as the Buckeyes’ starter resulted in wins over Minnesota and Tulsa and a loss to Oregon. He played fine in those games, completing 62 of 101 passes (62.4%) for 963 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions. But his play wasn’t so great that it put anyone’s mind at ease that he was unquestionably the guy.
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Part of that lack of explosion was due to being limited by a shoulder injury. He later revealed it to be a stressed rotator cuff suffered during fall camp. It even forced him to sit out for a day when the media and the Big Ten Network were there to watch. He later revealed that the injury had turned into something more following the opener against the Golden Gophers
“I was just banged up. Fall camp, I had stressed my rotator cuff,” Stroud said. “In the Minnesota game, I got a hit right on my shoulder and separated my AC joint, so that one wasn’t fun. It was kind of painful.”
Things got so bad that Stroud sat out the week following the Tulsa win and missed the Akron game, which awarded Kyle McCord his first career start.
Stroud returned the following week against Rutgers, where he completed 73.9% of his passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns in a game that began his ascent up the Heisman Trophy rankings. He eventually finished fourth behind Alabama’s Bryce Young, Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson and Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett.
The shoulder injury was ever much of an issue again during his OSU career. Stroud finished 21-4 with a College Football Playoff berth and was twice a Heisman finalist and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. His 8,123 career yards and 85 career touchdowns both rank second in school history behind J.T. Barrett.
But now that injury has followed him to the NFL, where just two weeks into his career he is seen as questionable to be available for a football game. In college, it led to him eventually sitting out before returning and transforming into one of the nation’s best college football players. We’ll see if a similar set back eventually produces the same result.
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