The Houston Texans were down big in the fourth quarter to the New YorkJets with the game seemingly out of hand. However, they potentially suffered an even more brutal loss as C.J. Stroud went down after getting rocked by Quinnen Williams on a meaningless six-yard completion.
Stroud immediately headed into the blue medical tent and eventually the locker room. The Texans announced shortly after that he was being evaluated for a concussion. It was the second significant injury of the day for the Texans as Nico Collins suffered a calf injury on the second play of the day.
The overwhelming favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year (-9000 at FanDuel), Stroud was also on the periphery of the MVP race. He entered the game leading the league with 3,540 passing yards. He’d also completed 265-of-418 attempts with 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions. His 101.2 passer rating ranks fourth among all quarterbacks who’ve played at least 10 games.
Stroud had arguably the toughest game of his young career in the loss to the Jets. He completed 10-for-13 for 91 yards and zero touchdowns in poor weather conditions.
While we don't yet know the severity of Stroud's injury or if he'll miss significant time, Director of Predictive Analytics Sean Koerner thinks an extended amount of time away, combined with the injuries to their receivers could have a massive impact on the Texans' odds game-to-game down the stretch.
Koerner's C.J. Stroud Injury Analysis
Stroud has already become one of the better quarterbacks in the game and it’s about a 5 point drop off from him to backup David Mills. With Tank Dell done for season, Collins' injury is also massive. If Stroud and Collins are both out, it might be worth closer to 5.5-6 points.
