Irrefutable evidence reveals CJ Stroud’s historic legacy among all-time rookie QBs
UNCHARTED WATERS
19 January 2024
CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans are preparing for a huge divisional round playoff matchup with the Baltimore Ravens that takes place this weekend.
Stroud already has one playoff win under his belt, and not many rookie quarterbacks can say the same.
With that in mind, can we make the case that Stroud's rookie season is the best among quarterback's in NFL history?
After digging through the numbers and comparing several standout seasons, we believe Stroud's is in fact the best. So what's the criteria we used to measure these rookie performances?
We factored in the team record, passing yards, touchdowns, interceptions, and playoff wins among other things. Plus, we gave extra credit to QBs that started the first game of their rookie season.
We compared Stroud's historic season up against Dan Marino's, Andrew Luck's, Ben Roethlisberger's, Robert Griffin III's, and numerous others. When blending total yards, TD/Int ratio, total TDs, and playoff success, we believe Stroud comes out on top.
While all these QBs listed above were terrific, they each had a flaw that gave Stroud the edge in our opinion. For instance, Marino only started 9 regular season games. Luck and RGIII didn't win a playoff game. Roethlisberger wasn't even in the ballpark in regard to TDs and passing yards. He was basically a very good game manager that season.
What does the future hold?
With OC Bobby Slowik possibly leaving after the season to take a head coaching job, we took a peek at these quarterback's second-year numbers to see if we should expect regression in year 2.
Be sure to watch the video as we reveal what the Texans should expect from Stroud in his sophomore season, and much more!
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How the Astros keep showing what legit contenders look like
Jul 2, 2025, 11:17 pm
Jose Altuve hit a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning to move into second place on Houston's career hits list and the Astros beat the Colorado Rockies 5-3 on Wednesday night to win their 12th straight series.
Jose Altuve DRVIES IN 2 ... and passes Jeff Bagwell for 2nd in career hits with the @astros#BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/IcLVdy5iOn
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) July 3, 2025
Altuve went 2 for 5 and gave the Astros a 4-2 lead with his 2,315th career hit, moving him past Jeff Bagwell. Craig Biggio leads the franchise with 3,060 career hits.
Altuve spoke about his relationship with Bagwell, and more after the game.
Jose Altuve got a congratulatory text message postgame from Jeff Bagwell after passing him on the Astros’ all-time hits list. pic.twitter.com/KtKk28SZEt
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) July 3, 2025
Hunter Brown (9-3) allowed two runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out eight to join Lance McCullers Jr. as the only Astros pitchers to reach 500 in their first 86 appearances.
Bennett Sousa pitched the ninth for his third save.
Jake Meyers had a one-out double off Austin Gomber in the first and Altuve and Cam Smith followed with back-to-back singles for a 1-0 lead in the first.
Rookie Shay Whitcomb hit his first home run 451 feet to left-center field for a 2-0 lead in the second.
SHAY WHITCOMB! FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE HOMER! #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/zHfQUuIXnS
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 3, 2025
Cooper Hummel singled and Mauricio Dubón drew a walk off reliever Angel Chivilli (1-4) in the sixth. Altuve drove a two-out pitch from Jake Bird to center to score both. Smith followed with an RBI single for a 5-2 lead.
Cam makes it 5-2 Astros! #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/j4xMIaY62F
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 3, 2025
Thairo Estrada went 3 for 4 and singled and scored ahead of Mickey Moniak's 12th home run to tie it 2-2 in the Rockies' second.
Gomber allowed two runs on eight hits in five innings.
Houston has won three in a row and 16 of 21.
Key moment
Brown struck out Hunter Goodman in the third for No. 500 and then fanned Jordan Beck swinging on a 99.8 mph fastball — his fastest this season — to end the inning.
Key stat
The Rockies have lost all 14 series at home, dropping the first two games 13 times.
Up next
Astros LHP Brandon Walter (1-1, 3.34 ERA) starts Thursday's series finale opposite Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-9, 5.56).
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