Texas — There have been 817 quarterback draught selections since the common draught era began in 1967. Out of them, 128 were selected for the Pro Bowl.
Some have come from universities like Wyoming and North Dakota State, while others have come from established powerhouses like Notre Dame and Michigan.
However, enduring powerhouse Despite having the second-highest win total in college football history, Ohio State has not had a quarterback selected to the Pro Bowl.
Nonetheless, C.J. Stroud, a rookie signal-caller for the Houston Texans, is making a case to become the first Buckeye to accomplish so through the first nine games of his career and may even challenge for MVP honours.
Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa lead the league in touchdowns-to-interception ratio (15 to 2) and passing yards per game (291.8), but Stroud’s 15 touchdowns are four fewer than theirs. Additionally, he broke the record of 186 pass attempts made to begin a career without an interception.
The Texans defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 30–27 on Sunday, ending their four-game winning streak. For the second week in a row, Stroud led a winning drive and, with 356 passing yards, became just the third rookie to throw for 350 yards (the other two being Cam Newton (2011) and Andrew Luck (2012)).
That occurred one week after, in a 39-37 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Stroud set the rookie record for most passing yards (470). With two games remaining, his 826 passing yards are second most by an NFL rookie, only surpassed by Cam Newton’s 854 yards in 2011.
The Texans are 5-4 this season, their best record since the end of 2019; a large part of that success can be attributed to Stroud. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Houston has a 58.4% chance of making the playoffs after starting the season at 15%.
Though he wants to clear up any confusion, Stroud is aware of the myth surrounding Ohio State quarterbacks.
“Stories have been written about Ohio State quarterbacks that aren’t necessarily true, and for me, that’s fine,” Stroud stated. It is my responsibility to go out there and disprove that, as well as attempt to demonstrate that Ohio State is getting ready in the proper manner.
Four of Ohio State’s fourteen quarterbacks selected in the common draught era—Art Schlichter (No. 4, 1982), the late Dwayne Haskins (No. 15, 2019), Justin Fields (No. 11, 2021), and Stroud—went in the first round.
Later-round selections like Troy Smith and Cardale Jones, who had stellar collegiate careers but had limited opportunity in the NFL, are examples of this.
