C.J. Stroud didn’t win the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award last season for nothing. The former Ohio State Buckeyes star impressed the entirety of the NFL as a rookie in 2023 and looks like he’s poised to take yet another step this year. Stroud and the Texans faced off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 of NFL preseason action and he looked like his usual highlight machine self, albeit on a small sample size.

Stroud only attempted four passes on the game, but one of them was the highlight of the matchup as he found Tank Dell for a 34-yard touchdown. As Mike Garafolo so aptly put it, that’s the connection we all remember from a year ago.

C.J. Stroud and Tank Dell just like we remember pic.twitter.com/FIEIQ8trY0

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 9, 2024

It is just the preseason, and the highlight play did come against a thinly disguised Cover-3 shell, but C.J. Stroud put it right on the money in between three defenders. This kind of play was commonplace in his time at Ohio State and last season as a phenomenal rookie. We should expect to see plenty more plays like this between Stroud and Dell in 2024.

Stroud and Dell hadn’t been able to connect in live game action since Week 13 of last season when Tank broke his fibula, forcing him out of the rest of the season. And then to make matters worse, Dell was in the wrong place at the wrong time this spring when he was shot (among several others) at a private event in Sanford, Florida. Dell certainly looked good in his first action back for a guy who was shot just over three months ago.

Dell of course exploded last year as a rookie in his first 11 games, racking up over 700 yards and seven touchdowns. Once Dell was out, Nico Collins stepped up in a huge way, just falling short of 1300 yards on the season. Now with Stefon Diggs in the fold the Texans should have one of the best wide receiver trios in the entire NFL.

It’s going to be hard for C.J. Stroud to live up to the unbelievable hype that has been building this off-season, but he and Tank Dell definitely already look up to the task.