C.J. Stroud credits Ohio State for his seamless transition to NFL

CJ Stroud makes it look easy. Nonetheless, he isn’t taking credit for his smooth transition into the league. During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Stroud praised his alma mater for his success in the NFL.

“It definitely goes back to playing at Ohio State. I wanted to play on the biggest stage against the best competition,” Stroud said. “Everybody who’s played at Ohio State knows that every day in practice, you’re playing against a first-rounder, or somebody who’s really good on the other side. The competition that was bred at practice definitely helped.”

Stroud has begun his NFL career at a historic pace. In four games, the former Ohio State standout has completed 94-of-his-151 pass attempts for 1,212 yards and six touchdowns while throwing zero interceptions.

Amid an outstanding start, perhaps Shroud’s best moment yet came on Sunday in the Texans’ 30-6 win over the Steelers. In the victory, Stroud tallied 306 passing yards and two touchdowns while completing 53.3% of his passes.

Shroud is averaging 303 passing yards per contest. For reference, if Stroud maintained his current pace, he’d finish the regular season with 5,151 passing yards. Andrew Luck currently holds the rookie passing record set in 2012 at 4,374 yards.

Stroud simply feels lucky to be in the position he’s in.

“God blessed me with the opportunity to go to a school like that,” Stroud said. “Then, I learned my lessons in preseason. I think it was really big for me to have a little trouble at first and then grow every week. I just wanted to get better. It’s been a blessing, but I mean, it’s just beginning.”

Stroud’s preseason certainly didn’t resemble what fans have seen through the first four weeks of the regular season. Stroud played exclusively with the starting offense during preseason and went 11-of-18 for 89 yards with one touchdown and an interception in eight series over three contests.

Although the showings weren’t necessarily disheartening, they were nothing to gloat about. Now, others will do Stroud’s gloating for him. Earlier this week, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons praised the rookie QB.

“CJ Stroud is the real deal,” Parson said. “We cannot let CJ go unknown. He was nice. He was my QB1 coming out of the draft. I was like, ‘Man, CJ is that guy.’ I think he’s gonna be dominant and things like that because his confidence; the things that he’s bringing to this game.”

Stroud will have another chance to impress his fellow NFL standouts on Sunday when the Houston Texans take on the Atlanta Falcons at 1 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on FOX.

The post C.J. Stroud credits Ohio State for his seamless transition to NFL appeared first on On3.