Quarterback C.J. Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft, exploded onto the NFL scene early in his rookie season.
His first game for the Texans didn't impress too much, a 25-9 loss to Baltimore, but we knew the Ravens had a good defense. In the second week of the season, he threw for 384 yards and two touchdowns against Indianapolis. The Texans lost that game, but they won the next two with Stroud throwing for 280 yards against Jacksonville and then 306 yards against Pittsburgh, with two passing touchdowns in each win. By later in the season, Stroud was putting up incredible performances such as the 470-yard, five-touchdown day that ended with a 39-37 comeback win over Tampa Bay in Week 9.
Stroud has missed the past two weeks because of concussion symptoms, but he has cleared concussion protocol and is expected back this weekend for Houston's game against the rival Titans on Sunday.
With Stroud on the way back, we thought it was a good time to look at where his season stands among the top rookie quarterback seasons of the past 25 years. That starts with Peyton Manning in 1998 and goes all the way to Stroud and the stars of recent drafts.
I've ranked the top rookie quarterbacks of the past 25 years using my DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement) stat, which is explained further here. I'm using an adjusted version of DYAR that counts rushing value extra because 1 DYAR of quarterback rushing has more expected points added than 1 DYAR of quarterback passing. That will be important, especially when we get to the quarterback ranked seventh below.
Jump to a QB's season:
Griffin III | Herbert | Jones
Manning | Mayfield | Newton
Prescott | Roethlisberger
Ryan | Stroud | Watson | Wilson
