This season, nobody will be undervaluing CJ Stroud, Stefon Diggs, and the Houston Texans.
Thanks to rookie of the year quarterback CJ Stroud and first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans, who will probably keep the Texans among the best in the AFC for the rest of the decade, the upstart Houston Texans had an unexpectedly successful 2023 season. On the last day of the season, the Texans won the AFC South.
The Texans clearly didn’t see any reason to let up on the throttle before the 2024 season.
They signed Azeez Al-Shaair, Denico Autry, and Danielle Hunter to strengthen their defense. Perhaps even more impressively, they have made inroads against two of the AFC’s strongest opponents.
Less than three weeks after trading a 7th round pick to the Cincinnati Bengals for running back Joe Mixon (whom they immediately signed to a three-year, $27 million extension), the Texans acquired Stefon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills for just a 2025 2nd round pick.
Although the Diggs deal was immediately heralded as a victory for Houston, it appears that CJ Stroud was completely left out of the early fireworks.
We all understand how crucial it is to get eight hours of sleep, so I don’t blame Stroud for putting catching Z’s ahead of learning what the Texans might be working on in the offseason.
But as it happens, Stroud’s view for the 2024 season is greater than he could have ever imagined thanks to the Texans’ actions.
Theoretically, the addition of Joe Mixon and Stefon Diggs may elevate the Texans offense, which finished outside the top ten in most metrics, to among the best in the NFL in 2024.
Just take a look at the arsenal of weapons the Texans have around him: A true beast, Stefon Diggs has amassed at least 1,000 yards in six seasons, including an NFL-high 1,535 yards in his rookie season with the Buffalo Bills.Theoretically, Tank Dell and Nico Collins will be in better health than they were the previous season.
After Devin Singletary replaced Dameon Pierce in the backfield the previous season, Joe Mixon gives the Texans backfield some much-needed energy.
Stroud also has a complete season of NFL experience under his belt, which is very impressive given how little he played like a rookie in his rookie campaign last year. Stroud never had the look of a young quarterback who was overmatched.
Throughout the entire season, he remained composed, confident, and darting over the field despite his gang of pass-catchers dropping like flies and the lights beaming stronger and brighter down on him.
For Texans supporters, it must have been a comfort that the moment was never too huge, since CJ Stroud will be in charge of more monumental occasions in Houston.
