Colin Cowherd Podcast - Texans Blowout Browns, CJ Stroud Already A Top 10 QB, Chiefs Throttle Dolphins, Tua’s Limitations Exposed

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terms and responsible gaming resources all right. Instant reaction on the Texans thrashing the Cleveland Browns. I had said I picked Houston to win. I said Joe Flacco had become a better story than he was a quarterback. He had eight picks and five games before today. Now he's got ten picks and six starts. Flacco was a really good story for a dysfunctional organization, stepping in on their fourth quarterback Stefanski doing a marvelous job. But he's not a

great quarterback at this point. He always threw a lot of picks. He was generally very good in the wildcard round. Big strong guy, big arm. But I don't think anybody ever thought he was, you know, a great quarterback. You know, he was a notch below the big Bends and the Brady's and the Mannings. You know, his content temporaries, but the obvious story today is c J. Stroud. And it's

interesting about c J. Stroud. So when he came out, I tend to lean on my scouts and my sources, and so one of my guys that I don't consider him a source, he's just a friend. Lance Zerline works at NFL dot com and he's a scout, and he had said c J. Stroud's comp is Jared Goff. And I always felt with Jared Goff, he's really really good. I think he's a top ten twelve quarterback, but he's not good enough to overcome nonsense. And so I thought

it was a good comp. I thought c J. Stroud had some Jared Goff abilities but wasn't good enough to overcome nonsense. Well, what's really interesting about that comp? So Jared goff first year was a mess with the Rams, but in his second year when they got him a left tackle, Andrew Whitworth and Sean McVay, twenty eight touchdowns, seven picks and a sixty two percent completion percentage. CJ. Stroud's first year numbers twenty three touchdowns, five picks, sixty

four percent completion percentage. Difference is c J. Stroud inherited a great left tackle as a rookie, and he also inherited a really good coach and Demiko Ryans, so Goff was a mess until he got the right coach and the right protection left tackle. So c J. Stroud didn't have to go through that year. But their numbers are very similar. The first time Jared Goff had like legitimate protection and a good coach, he put up similar numbers. And so I think CJ's been terrific, obviously better than

most would predict. But I think what's important as I watch c J. Stroud, Obviously, if you get the coach and the quarterback right, you know you're not gonna lose that many games in the NFL, even if you don't love the coach. If you love the quarterback and you like the coach, you're gonna be a playoff team most of the time. But what c J. Stroud or guys like Andrew Luck create is clarity. You're gonna argue for

Justin Fields. Watching CJ. Shroud Justin Fields in his third year and c J. Stroud, Daniel Jones, you know these people that argue for their like second tier quarterbacks. It's like, I don't want to hear about drops. You know who had the second most drops in the NFL. C J. Stroud Number one was Patrick Mahomes. Everybody has receivers that drop the ball. Is that when you get a c J. Stroud, it creates clarity for all these fan bases and gms

to go, well, this guy can win with an imperfect roster. Now, I do think Houston, and I said this during the offseason. I thought they had a great summer. I thought they had a great draft. So CJ. This may have been a messy organization. But Nick Casario from New England sharp guy Demiko. I was told two years before he became a head coach he's gonna be He was only at San Francisco for three or four years. They moved him

from controller to position coach coordinator boomies out. But I think CJ ensures if Demko Ryan stays that they're going to be interesting for a decade plus, and that's all you can hope for super Bowls. Who knows, Jared Goff got to one may never get to another. Who knows a lot of that is circum stance. It's your team healthy, who are you facing? Are you at home? You know? Now Houston has to go on the road, and the quality of play and the quality of quarterback should go up.

But Stroud is a terrific player. And I was counting this morning. You know, only about half the league has a franchise quarterback. Now, I think Kaylen Williams will come in and Drake may feel like both those guys could hit. Could but right now, and I didn't count. I don't know if I counted Baker Mayfield. I did count Tua, I did count Derek Carr, I did count Kirk Cousins off an injury. I think I counted Baker Mayfield too.

I only have seventeen NFL teams out of thirty two that have franchise quarterbacks, people that they could lean on and say, this is our guy. I don't believe I counted Gino Smith. I didn't. I think Seattle want upgrade. But I mean, before C. J. Stroud hit and Jordan Love hit, you know you're looking at like half the league. Now it's slightly above half the league has a franchise quarterback. So it's hard, you know, it's I just don't think fans.

I think you mostly get it, but it is nobody I knew two scouts that really like c J. Stroud and I have texted him throughout the course of the year and they're like, he was this good. We didn't see this, and so what you have to do with quarnerback play, you know, you cross your fingers, you look at traits and the thing that jumps out. With c J. Stroud, he didn't have a lot of juice athletically. He doesn't run around a lot, but he is effortlessly and unmistakably accurate.

He just throws a beautiful, accurate ball. He doesn't miss very often. He missed on one deep ball today, but the receiver stopped running, so I don't necessarily blame that entirely on him. But he's just kind of a quiet, confident kid. He can throw setting his feet. When he missed a throw and didn't miss it throw. He had an incompletion near the goal line in the first quarter. He was first quarter and it was just it's a

nondescript play that won't get discussed. But he rolled out to the right and of the goal line and the ball was batted down. But running to his right, he threw a ball low nobody could get it. As they always say in the NFL near the goal line, throw it low at the end of the end zone, in the back of the end zone, keep it high so it doesn't get intercepted. But his ability to move quickly, roll and throw it in this little football sized space.

Now it was knocked away by a Cleveland corner, but it was literally a perfect throw in this small little area that you don't direct many passes in down in the dirt, and that's a play that it doesn't end up in the box score. It's an incompletion. Nobody cares about it, nobody discusses it. But he makes it look so easy on screens, drag routes, the stuff that should be easy for him. It's like Mahomes, it's just layup

drill time. So it's exciting for Houston. They got a great baseball franchise and now they've got a star quarterback. And you know, he's obviously right now playing as a top ten quarterback. But you know, and you know, I like Kyler Murray much more than most people. I like Jared Goff much more than most people. But and Trevor Lawrence regressed this year. Maybe I've been too high on him. I've always thought of him as a top seven quarterback.

I like Herbert think he's a top five or six guy. Again, he has to get a legitimate coach, But I think you can say with some confidence c J. Stroud, his ability to sit in the pocket, throw accurately, his size, his mechanics, he looks like a top ten guy. Maybe near the bottom of it, but it looks like a top ten guy. I don't think that's being hyperbolic or overstated anything. He's just a big, tall, accurate, easy thrower.

He's got a good, solid body. It's fun. This stuff is fun on Don't you stop worrying about being right and concentrate more in getting it right. Sports is a lot of fun. I love making predictions. I thought the Jared Goff comp was reasonable, but left tackle coach, they're hitting a couple of draft picks at wide receiver text under a fun team, it's not easy to get in over forty points in a playoff game. Meanwhile, for Cleveland, they're a bit of a mess. I don't even want

to talk about Cleveland. I mean, I like their coach and I like their GM, but the Deshaun Watson situation, you know I'm sitting there, you know, who I was already thinking about watching this game. Beyond the Texans was the Pittsburgh Steelers. So just in the AFC, now you have c J. Stroud, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Mahomes, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, with legitimate coach Trevor Lawrence, and Pittsburgh sitting there with Kenny Pickett trying to convince themselves. Yeah that's

the guy, Kenny Pickett. Mason Rudolph looked better than Kenny Pickett. So again that goes into the Daniel Jones justin fields you're trying to convince yourself stuff. That's just not true for c J. Stroud to be this confident, this accurate, and this effortless. Look at your quarterback, what year is he in? And it's not like the Texans. I mean a year ago we were laughing at him. They were

the most dysfunctional organization in sports. Now they hit on some right people upstairs, sidelines quarterback, But I mean c J. Stroud, look around. If you're the Steelers, that's another quarterback in the AFC. Big Ben retires and it's like there was a long stretch between Bradshaw and big Ben a lot of years without super and when I look at c. J. Stroud, I'm like, oh, that's just another really good quarterback. Teams

like the Steelers have to get through. And the other thing that's encouraging is so with c. J. Stroud and Jordan Love both hitting this year, Jordan Love later in the season, we have two more franchise quarterbacks. And you know what, and I know it, nothing is worse than watching football in the NFL or college with bad quarterback play.

So it looks like we got two more young franchise quarterbacks not even in their prime yet Jordan Loved, c J. Stroud probably a year away from their prime going into it. It's pretty cool. Well instant reaction on the Chiefs drubbing of the Miami Dolphins. I thought Miami would give a much better effort. It was really kind of wave the white flag early in the third quarter. And you know, I can't really blame their defense because they're missing six starters.

But so let me get this straight. On two, he's small, doesn't have a great arm up the sideline, not athletic, has some injuries and now can only play in ideal conditions. So he has to have home games throughout the playoffs to be formidable. So I mean doesn't mean you're going to get rid of him, but I think you have to look to the future and understand what he is. I mean, his record in December and January is not good. His record in September and October is good, and that's okay.

You know, he is a quarterback that's more than capable. I mean, he made a Pro Bowl over Josh Allen. Now, I think the Pro Bowl's nonsense. I think awards, Oscars, Emmys, I think a lot of it's nonsense. Plaques don't make the player. Everybody knows that. But you know, I mean I think you look at too, and it's like, what one skill does he have over Josh Allen? Really, So you just have to know going forward there's limitations to what he can do, especially late in the season. And

Miami to a large degree. Again, I thought they'd play much better tonight. I thought it would be lower scoring. I thought the Chiefs offense was highly functional, and I'll get to that in a second. But considering the conditions highly functional tonight, especially after you know, a couple of rocky drives to start players getting used to the cold, then I thought, second half second corner. Pretty good. But you know, I think Miami was when I said they

were all season. They're fun. I like watching them, I like their coach, I like Tyreek Hill. Two is fine. They're a convertible sports car. They're just not built for December and January. You know, they're just not built for this type of weather. So quarterbacks, none of them love playing in this weather. Brady liked cold weather because he said when it was slippery, defensive lineman couldn't get a

pass rush. Most quarterbacks don't love it. But I mean the difference between the great ones and guys you don't give an extension to are can you overcome? Can you play in bad elements? Can you play hurt? Can you play against the great pass rush? Can you play when your left tackle is a swinging door? So I think two is just a quarterback that when everything's lined up perfectly, he can play. But you saw c J. Stroud earlier today, bigger, stronger,

better arm. Now again, weather's different, but you look at c J. Stroud, there's nothing you're really missing there. Big arm, sideline, seize the field, get get rid of it, can throw on the move, can move a little. There's just nothing you don't like, and with two there's not a lot I love. He is a warm weather quarterback. When things are ideal, he can put up some good numbers with a world class receiving corps and Mike McDaniel, who's a really smart offensive coach. But things have to be right.

You know. It's interesting when I was watching to teams will tell you what they think of their players by the play calling, and so Mike McDaniel's play calling was super conservative in the second half. Well, that's telling you he doesn't trust him. So you know, you can tell when you watch Mahomes and c. J. Stroud their coaches trust him. They trust them cognitively, they trust them physically, they trust them, you know, in crisis situations, high leverage situations.

I'm watching Mike McDaniel's play calling. He didn't want to in a throw. He didn't want him to sit in the pocket his bubble screens. So that's a tell in poker, that's a tell, you know. In terms of Kansas City. You know, we've said that Kansas City's receiving core Rashi Rice has developed into a really solid one. He's not a profound or a dynamic one. But he's a strong, thick, hard to bring down receiver. He is their one. Travis Kelcey's their one tight end. After that, you know, it's

a bunch of middling guys. So I don't think it feels like a super Bowl team. I think they would really struggle to go into Baltimore, play San Francisco and win. But smart people, over time figure stuff out. And you know, Kansas City's got some of the smartest people in the NFL, scouts, GM coach, quarterback in the LAGU. It's a really bright football operation and they have figured out a way to

make that offense mostly work. I thought the second half, second quarter, second half of the second quarter, and second half, considering the conditions, I thought the Chiefs looked great. Ran the ball, passed it effectively. I mean, you're throwing a rock around in that weather, but I thought it was pretty impressive. This is the best defense Mahomes has played with. They get a good pass rush. So you know, smart people over time figure out how to make businesses more

functional and operate them at a higher level. So I always trust the Baltimore's and the San Francisco's and the Kansas City's. They've just got bright people everywhere, and I thought the Chiefs looked pretty impressive considering the conditions. I looked at the Chiefs to night and I thought, wow, that is a much better offensive output functionality than I would have guessed for the weather. Miami just and again,

it's not like Miami made the playoffs. I had predicted Buffalo and win the division, Miami would be a wildcard team. And then over the course of the year, I said I liked them, but they'll have to play at home. I just didn't really. I just got fun, fake flashy, you know. I kept calling them the fake Gucci bag. You know, it looks right, it looks real, but in closer inspection it's not. It's a fraud. I think that's who Miami is. They beat one team winning team this year.

I believe the Dallas Cowboys, a team that fumbled on a goal line handoffer would have gone up fourteen to three, and a team Dallas that doesn't play particularly well against winning teams on the road. So I think if you look back at the season for Miami, it's an offensive leaning franchise. Injuries attrition absolutely hurt them on the defensive side. That's not an excuse. That's a reason they had six starters out. There's nothing they can do. But it wasn't

much of an effort offensively tonight. If I'm a Dolphin fan, I'm worried about the offense. I mean, look at the calling for Tua. They look terrified to have him throw with Hyreek, Jaylen Waddle, Wilson so and if you look at Kansas City, Baltimore, Kansas City, Buffalo, I like Houston. I think their season ends next week. Baltimore, Buffalo, Kansas City pretty well run teams the last half decade, you know,

I mean, well even longer than that. But we're not surprised, right, all these games, all the weather, all the injuries, Bills, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City and Lamar Jackson and the Ravens looked like the top three teams and a really fun surprising story. C J. Stroud, you know, three predictable, one surprise. And so tomorrow, you know, we go into the NFC games, and again I think Dallas beats Green Bay a lot of scoring. I think the Rams slip

past Detroit. I think we'll see some scoring. And then on Monday, I do think we're going to see Philadelphia beating the Bucks. I know what you're saying, Colin. You already have the Bills beating the Steelers. Yeah, I know, I do. Yes, Yes, I know I do. I'm fully aware of that. I mean, you could take the ten points, but yeah, I'm gonna go with Josh Allen over Mason Rudolph. So on interesting Saturday, one semi surprise. Certainly, the outcome in Houston was a surprise and a surprising lack of

effort by the Miami Dolphins. It's not like you cut Tua. You're not going to cut him. You know, he's an effective quarterback. You just have to take a deep breath and the expectations have to be more realistic. I think the people in the building have realistic expectations on Tua. I'm not sure all the fans do or the Miami media does, but I think Mike McDaniel and the guys upstairs in Miami they kind of know what they have. You can tell from the play calling, the play designed tonight.

They kind of know what they have. The volume