C.J. Stroud's Texans teammate bullish on QB's 2026 season originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has been a topic of discussion this offseason after the horrific way he ended 2025.

The horrific playoff loss to the New England Patriots, in which Stroud threw four first-half interceptions, wasn't great and led many to think Houston should move on from him.

Of course, the franchise picked up his fifth-year option, giving them two years to evaluate Stroud before potentially handing him a huge extension.

But while there are many detractors of Stroud, his offensive tackle, Trent Brown, isn't one of them.

"I expect C.J. to get better," Brown said on The Set. "People be so quick to throw people away that they forget what you've done for them. The build-up, you know what I mean? I expect C.J. to get better. I think C.J. is going to come in and be even more of a leader than he's been. I think his approach will be different.

"I think this offseason is a little different for him and I think he's going to surprise a lot of people. I think people think that he might be down in the dumps, or they might be down in the dumps on him, but I think he's going to surprise a lot of people."

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I'm not sure Stroud can have another season of regression. Somewhere between his rookie season and his second year is a happy medium, I think.

But there can't be performances like the playoff loss, as people are already starting to get offside on him as a franchise quarterback, and performances like that won't help the narrative.

The 2026 season is looming as a defining one for Stroud, and yes, he's got two years to prove he is "the" guy, but if he stumbles again, next offseason will make for rather uncomfortable viewing for Texans fans.

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