CJ Stroud’s shares new look after tough end to season 

Sometimes, when things aren’t going your way you just need a little change. That could be what C.J. Stroud was thinking when he decided to go to the barber shop and change his famous look that he has had since entering the NFL.

Time for a change

Athletes can be superstitious. When things are going well, you keep those superstitions going. You do the same thing or you eat the same thing or you listen to the same song before taking the field. If things aren’t going well, then you change whatever it is that you were doing, or eating or in C.J. Stroud’s case how you were looking.

Stroud debuted his new hairdo on X just a few weeks after the Houston Texans season got knocked out of the playoffs by the New England Patriots. The famous hair style that we have become so accustomed to seeing when Stroud takes it helmet off is no more.

He’s had the same look since he was at Ohio State, and carried that look over into the NFL after he was taken with the second overall pick in the 2023 Draft. He had one of the best rookie seasons of any quarterback in history, taking the Houston Texans back to the post season after three years of obscurity.

Rough end to season for Stroud

People automatically thought that Stroud was going to be the next generational quarterback after his first season in the NFL. That hasn’t exactly been the case since the end of his rookie year. His numbers have gone down over the last two years, and even though Houston has made the playoffs in each of his three season in the NFL, Stroud came under heavy scrutiny in the Texans playoff run.

The Texans ended up winning their Wild Card game after getting the five seed in the AFC. They traveled to Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers but Stroud showed signs of trouble, fumbling five times, losing two of those and throwing an interception in the 30-6 win over PIT. Then things fell apart in the Divisional Round game against the New England Patriots. He threw four picks in under the snow from Foxborough and the critics started to rain down.

Many thought the Texans could have made a deep run in the postseason with a defense which was one of the strongest in the league. Head coach DeMeco Ryans is the one running the defense and you would expect them to be just as dominant next year, and if Stroud can recapture some of that form he had in his rookie season the Texans could be contenders next season.

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