Caleb Williams vs. CJ Stroud: Clash of NFL's Next-Gen Quarterbacks
Caleb Williams vs. CJ Stroud: Clash of NFL's Next-Gen Quarterbacks
By Jay Postrado September 16, 2024 05:39
Rookie quarterbacks who end up at the top of their class tend to be treated as the saviors of their franchise. The two players who are experiencing this type of treatment has been Caleb Williams and CJ Stroud. The Chicago Bears and Houston Texans have long craved to go back to their former glory and it looks like they may have just found their franchise signal callers.
These two are going to face off in Week 2 with a lot on the line. One has to prove that he was worth every bit of investment by the Bears while the other needs to show the world that his rookie breakout was not a fluke. Who's better?
CJ Stroud by the numbers
The Texans have done well in keeping Stroud happy and able to compete. In just his rookie year, he led them to the AFC Divisional round. It was just not their fate yet to get to the AFC Championship nor Super Bowl because Lamar Jackson was doing all that he could to lift the Baltimore Ravens up.
Nonetheless, he still put up big numbers during his rookie year. Stroud registered 4,108 passing yards on a highly serviceable 63.9% completion percentage. The signal caller also managed to notch 23 touchdowns while only throwing five interceptions. He is on pace to top those numbers after Week 2 as he improved his completion percentage to an impressive 69.1%.
Caleb Williams by the numbers
The Bears pushed all of their chips to the middle in hopes of the 2024 first overall pick to work out. However, the gamble that the front office and coaching staff made has not quite panned out yet. His output on the stat sheet tell the same story too.
Williams is struggling to find his weapons as he only has a 56.1% completion percentage while just giving the Bears a total gain of 267 yards. More than that, he has also not thrown for a touchdown after Week 2. To take it a notch further, he struggles when facing tough secondaries and linebackers too.
What happened during the Bears and Texans' clash?
The game was not even close and the outputs of each starting quarterback proved it. Stroud was a general on the field and threw for 260 passing yards on an insanely efficient 63.9% completion percentage. Not to mention, he was also not intercepted despite just throwing for one touchdown.
The same cannot be said for Williams. He was sacked seven times and intercepted twice which limited what he could produce for the Bears. The rookie did fight back with 174 passing yards but that was all he could do as his team fell to the Texans with a 19-13 scoreline.
Obviously, Stroud is the better player at the moment but Williams is just two games into his career. Will he be able to catch up soon?