2023 Raiders NFL Draft: CJ Stroud – Pick Or Pass?
C.J. Stroud, Raiders, NFL Draft
Dec 31, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) throws a pass during the second half of the Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff semifinal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Ohio State lost 42-41. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch Ncaa Football Peach Bowl Ohio State At Georgia

Another year, another Ohio State quarterback in the first-round conversation — but is this the year that Buckeyes quarterback gets drafted and succeeds at the NFL level (with all due respect to Justin Fields, who the jury is still out on)?

The truth about Stroud is that you can’t talk about him without quickly mentioning the performance he put on against Georgia in the College Football Playoff semifinal. Yes, Ohio State lost, but holy crap was Stroud incredible in that game.

If the evaluation was based on the best performance each quarterback had, I’m not sure there’d even be a debate about who the best quarterback — or player — in the country is, because he was that good against the eventual champs. My favorite part, though, was how things started and how he responded.

CJ Stroud, Raiders, NFL Draft
Dec 31, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) throws a pass during the first half of the Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff semifinal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch
Ncaa Football Peach Bowl Ohio State At Georgia

On his second throw of the game, Stroud was way off on an out route for an incompletion. On the next play, he was sacked when an unblocked blitzer came right up the middle. At that point, it would have been easy for him to get rattled a bit, but instead, his game went up a level, and he completed his next seven passes en route to back-to-back touchdown drives.

Later in the game, he had a couple of instances where the pocket breaks down, and he nimbly navigates the rush while keeping his eyes downfield — against the vaunted Georgia defensive line. Add in the rushing ability he displayed (34 yards) and Stroud firmly planted himself among the favorites for the No. 1 pick.

Height: 6’3″

Weight: 214 pounds

40-yard-dash: NA

Bench Press: NA

Vertical jump: NA

Broad jump: NA

College stats: 8,123 yards, 85 TD, 12 INT, 69.3% completion; 136 rushing yards, 1 TD

The knock against Stroud is going to be how great of an offense he played under Ryan Day — and truthfully, it’s a tough concern to ignore given just how wide-open some of his receivers are on tape.

Last season he had the best receiver in college football (Marvin Harrison Jr.) as well as a guy projected to be a first-round pick (Jackson Smith-Njigba) — this one year after Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson (both of whom were top-11 picks in 2022) were catching his passes.

Aside from that, there isn’t a ton to nitpick here — he completes passes at a ridiculous rate (and while combine performances are largely ignored, most analysts seem to agree that he was the best pure passer at the event), he doesn’t turn the ball over, and he has the type of size that shouldn’t give you pause.

VERDICT: PICK

I can’t get that Georgia game out of my head, and I absolutely love what Stroud would bring at quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders. He has the size that Bryce Young doesn’t have, and I think he’s just as good of a pure passer (and offers more upside as a runner). What Young has the edge in is all of the intangibles — but what Stroud showed me in the biggest game of his career, on the biggest stage, up against the biggest test was that the gap might not be as big as many people might think. Then again, maybe the Georgia game was an aberration — but I wouldn’t bet on it.