“He’s a Better Passer Than Lamar”: CJ Stroud Emerges as a Top Contender to Challenge Patrick Mahomes, Says Fox Analyst

CJ Stroud was the biggest rookie superstar from last season. He single-handedly transformed the Texans offense, to ultimately bag the offensive rookie of the year. But is he on par to challenge Patrick Mahomes, who just bagged his second Super Bowl in a row? Sports analyst Chris Broussard thinks so.

On a segment of ‘First Things First,’ Broussard explored the possibility of any current QBs being a serious threat to Mahomes. And he doesn’t think most of them compare. Apart from CJ Stroud. While Broussard says that Stroud is not yet there, he still has the capabilities to emerge as a top contender to Mahomes. Throwing up arguments against QBs in the league, the analyst said,

“I’m not gonna sit here and say that CJ Stroud is right now, definitely is better than Lamar or Josh and Joe Burrow. But he has something in his favor in this type of argument or debate (Mahomes competition) that all of them lack. So, he’s a better passer than Lamar, he’s more poised and doesn’t make the same mistakes as Josh Allen, Burrows is just injury prone.”

While Broussard might be accurate in his assessment and Stroud might be better than all these QBs, does that make him comparable to Mahomes? Probably not. After all, he’s still just a rookie and one good year is not an accurate predictor of what his future will look like. While he deserves his roses, it’s simply too early to be comparing him to anyone. Not to mention, the pressure that would be put on him.

Nick Wright: Nobody Can Touch Mahomes

Chiefs superfan Nick Wright is one opinion: no matter how good, nobody in the league right now can give solid competition to Mahomes. Per the analyst, there’s no comparable rival to Mahomes, no Manning to his Brady.

Wright further highlighted that even if Allen, Burrows, Jackson, and Stroud are looked at as a complete unit, they still don’t compare to Mahomes. Even collectively, they just don’t measure up, leading only in MVPs collected collectively by the four (with Lamar Jackson doing most of the heavy lifting), per Wright.

But could this change with Stroud? It’s nearly impossible to tell. The Texans would like to be optimistic and say yes. After all, they are investing a lot in bolstering their rookie this off-season (see: Diggs). But every season, a new competitor is put on the throne of Mahomes next big challenger, only to not make a dent ever again. Will that be Stroud’s future?