Caleb Williams was right, CJ Stroud drank too much of his own Kool-Aid and top 5 QB claim is a joke

It was one of the defining moments of Caleb Williams’ rookie season.

The Chicago Bears quarterback pulling a face after a man born a month before him offered some words of brotherly advice.

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“You’re gonna be a hell of a player in this league,” C.J. Stroud told the No. 1 pick after he threw two picks in a 19-13 loss to the Houston Texans in his second career start.

At the time, Williams was accused of arrogance for his reaction.

Now, it seems like fingers were pointing at the wrong quarterback.

Stroud was riding high after being named the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023 having thrown for over 4,000 yards in a barnstorming season.

The Texans lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round, but with Stroud and Defensive Rookie of the Year Will McDonald, looked to have a bright future.

Stroud won five of six to open the following campaign, including victory over Williams and Chicago, but the offense started to stagnate and coordinator Bobby Slowik paid the price after a playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Undeterred, the former Ohio State star claimed he was among the five best quarterbacks in the league that year, alongside Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Dak Prescott, and Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts.

Josh Allen may have had something to say about that and Stroud’s sophomore slump was followed by a junior jolt.

He made the postseason for the third consecutive year but barely passed 3,000 yards with just 19 touchdowns.

Considered the next quarterback in line for a major payday, his potential extension in 2026 was being put in the range of Brock Purdy‘s $265 million deal leading into the playoffs.

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The Texans defense, which Stroud rode to the postseason, got the job done against a poor Steelers team in the Wild Card round.

But at a rainy Gillette Stadium, the 24-year-old’s four picks — including one returned for six — proved fatal and Houston fell at the same stage for a third year running.

ESPN’s Marcus Spears claimed that DeMeco Ryans should consider benching his starter for Davis Mills — that’s how bad things got.

Ryan Clark disagreed, but only because he thought Houston needed to evaluate their potential franchise QB before breaking the bank on an extension.

Stroud’s energy coming out of the 2023 NFL Draft was of a humble man with a chip on his shoulder after seeing Bryce Young selected ahead of him.

He put his head down, did his talking on the field and was on course to making the Carolina Panthers look extremely foolish.

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Unfortunately, at some point Stroud has started to believe the hype and isn’t backing it up on the field with Super Bowl LX, which fans can watch here, a distant dream.

Williams, meanwhile, is making the headline-grabbing plays that only the NFL’s top quarterbacks make and looks a man reborn under Ben Johnson.

His dart on the move to find Cole Kmet in the corner of the end zone that took the Los Angeles Rams to overtime was sensational.

The Chicago signal-caller showed the downside to his game with the overambitious throw that led to a pick which ultimately cost his team the game, but in terms of potential, you would much rather have the USC product on your roster right now.

The Texans now have some decisions to make, it is hard to see a scenario where Stroud isn’t paid.

As Sean McDermott’s firing showed, somebody has to take the blame and Ryans is going nowhere as one of the game’s brightest head coaches.

That means OC Nick Caley will likely be dreading hearing his phone ring for the next few weeks.

Stroud has talent, and while it cannot excuse the poor throws, the absence of Nico Collins was certainly felt in new England.

But having won one of the most lopsided trades of all time in shipping Deshaun Watson to Cleveland, expectations are sky high in H-Town.

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Stroud can lead the franchise into a bright new future, but he needs to tap into his mentality as a rookie to avoid becoming another if only at the most difficult position in sports, something he started with his post-game reaction.

“I look back at the season, once again, I can’t be anything but grateful for the teammates I have, the coaches that I have. This organization, the city, the fans,” he said.

“I just feel like I let people down, and I’m not happy with that. It hurts, I’m not naive to it.

“I didn’t play my best this year, but I’m going to respond. I’m going to keep my chin up high, and keep battling forward.

“Even today, our team is doing great, defense getting stops. I was just being careless with the football, I’ve got to get that fixed.”

As for the top-five claim. Here are 14 names, in no particular order.

Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Brock Purdy, Matthew Stafford, Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Jared Goff.

On the plus side, CJ was right about Caleb.

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