The Houston Texans put a lot on C.J. Stroud’s plate last year but it never appeared to be too much for the rookie to handle. Stroud raised the bar for young quarterbacks with a season that probably still keeps Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper up at night.

The former Ohio State star shredded NFL defenses for 4,108 passing yards and 23 touchdowns while finishing third in passing yards per attempt (8.2) among starting quarterbacks. So how did he do so much damage as a rookie? Not only did Stroud take care of the football, but he was lights out when passing between the numbers.

As highlighted by NFL analyst Warren Sharp, Stroud was rated fourth in the NFL on passes between the numbers last season.

Stroud finished one spot ahead of Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who won the league MVP award last season. One common thread between the NFL’s top five between-the-numbers passers is they all have high touchdown-to-interception ratios.

Overall, this group passed for 115 touchdowns to just 38 interceptions in 2023. Stroud fared considerably better in this metric than the other quarterbacks in his draft class. No. 1 pick Bryce Young finished 28th in passing between the numbers while fellow rookie Will Levis was ranked 33rd.

It will be interesting to see how Houston’s acquisition of big-play wide receiver Stefon Diggs impacts Stroud’s approach in 2024.