It's Time C.J. Stroud Gets the Trevor Lawrence Treatment

The Jacksonville Jaguars might have gone out sad, but so did the Houston Texans, and that's at least some comfort. It's hard to shake the memory of Trevor Lawrence throwing an interception on the first play of the Jaguars' final offensive possession, down just three points with a little under a minute left to go in the contest.

Watching C.J. Stroud's stinker of a postseason certainly helped. His Texans fell to the New England Patriots, 28-16, in a game in which he completed under 43 percent of his passes and threw four interceptions. That was following a five-turnover performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, when his defense nearly outscored him and the offense.

Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL, Houston Texans, C.J. Stroud, Devin Lloyd — Sep 21, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) attempts to evade a tackle by Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd (0) during the second quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images | Travis Register-Imagn Images

The tide has turned on C.J. Stroud

Going into the 2025 NFL season, Trevor Lawrence's perception was in the dumps. A season-and-a-half of struggles and injuries was all it took for the outside world to forget about his tremendous 2022 campaign and give up on him. The Jacksonville Jaguars were clowned for giving him a five-year, $275 million extension, despite the team-friendly nature of the contract.

Trevor Lawrence just has not shown me anything that warrants him being paid 55M a year. At times he’s the reason that this Jags team is losing.
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) September 21, 2025

C.J. Stroud has had a similar career track, only his good season came in his rookie year, followed by two straight disappointing campaigns. For comparison, Stroud had 250 total yards per game with 66 touchdowns to 33 turnovers in his first three seasons, while T-Law averaged 255 yards with 69 scores and 60 giveaways between 2021 and 2023.

This is a rough outing for Stroud. 4th Interception of the first half. This Patriots defense making a huge statement
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) January 18, 2026

Stroud hasn't been in the best situation for a quarterback, but Lawrence's was worse. The Jaguars' QB wasn't shown any grace. Even the goodwill he built up this past season quickly evaporated once he underperformed against the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs. Stroud is finally starting to catch some flak for his struggles, but it took 10 turnovers in two postseason games for him to get there.

Meanwhile, Josh Allen can turn it over four times in a three-point loss to the Denver Broncos and come out with his reputation shining. If anything, he garnered more apologists after the fact. Buffalo even fired Head Coach Sean McDermott despite his defense holding up well in the Divisional Round.

"He's the only guy in the league that when they win, he's an all-time legend. And when they lose, even when it's because of his mistakes, it's gotta be someone else's fault."@getnickwright says Josh Allen's media treatment has gotten out of hand pic.twitter.com/cd5yN0DBhu
— What’s Wright? with Nick Wright (@WhatsWrightShow) January 20, 2026

There's still a chance that Stroud turns things around, as Lawrence did this past season. The overarching point is that quarterbacks, and NFL players in general, should be given more grace and patience to develop. It is a bit refreshing to see someone else catch the vitriol that T-Law has had to deal with for so long, though.

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