C.J. Stroud is the latest target of the NFL's pre-draft rumor-mongering machine

Stroud, and every other prospect, deserves better than the dubious claims that pop up every year.

I’ve found that as I get older, I feel more protective of players when they’re in college and when they’re about to embark on the pros. They’re no longer my peers — some of this year’s draft prospects were born after 9/11! — but a younger generation that has come of age during a chaotic time and has lived under the constant eye of social media. 

The pre-draft scrutiny of certain players — the quotes from anonymous sources, the unfounded whispers — has long been a staple of this process. It’s never been one I enjoyed, particularly because we know everyone is lying at this time of year and because so much of it is just gossip that serves no purpose and accomplishes nothing beyond tainting a young man’s character.

It happens every year, to multiple prospects. This year, for example, both Darnell Wright and Jalen Carter have been called “lazy” (anonymously, of course). But, as usual, the highest level of criticism is directed at a quarterback. A few years ago, it was the introverted Justin Herbert (which isn’t a personality flaw). Then it was Justin Fields’ supposedly deficient work ethic (which was not true). Now, it’s unfortunately C.J. Stroud's turn.

I’ve never met Stroud, but I’m more sensitive to the attacks on him because I’ve followed his career, have seen every snap he ever took at Ohio State, and know more about his background than anyone else in this draft class. I’ve also been defending him since his first start, after which one (anonymous, of course) Big Ten assistant coach called him “average” and fans called him much worse. He didn’t deserve to be piled on then, and he doesn’t deserve what’s happening to him now. 

In the last couple weeks, Stroud has been picked apart, the target of various unsubstantiated rumors. It feels coordinated in a way that I don’t understand. Stroud was the clear favorite to be the No. 1 pick not all that long ago. At this point, he isn’t even the favorite to be the No. 2 pick. So is a team trying to justify passing on him, or is one trying to purposely get him to drop? Or have we reached the point when everyone is just overthinking the picks?

What I do know is that since the start of this year, this is what Stroud has done:

1. In the College Football Playoff semifinal, he completed 23 of 34 passes for 348 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, posted a 192.4 passer rating and a 94.1 QBR, and rushed for 34 yards. He did that against Georgia’s elite defense and also, with his last drive, single-handedly put Ohio State in position to win, despite missing his top two receivers, top tight end, and top three running backs. It was the best performance I’ve ever seen from Stroud, and he did everything he could to try to win that game. With a slightly better defense (or slightly better kicker), we’re probably talking about Stroud as a national champion. 

2. He was on pretty much every outlet’s “NFL Combine winners” list after displaying his pinpoint accuracy and effortless throwing motion.

3. Soon after, Stroud earned rave reviews at his pro day, where he once again put on a show for the scouts and coaches. This time, he incorporated his athleticism by throwing on the move. He had a couple misses while throwing to his left, but overall, he was impressive once again and showed great touch on the ball.

So that’s three different (public) stages, all of varying degrees of pressure, and Stroud stepped up each time. But when word got out that the Panthers were zeroing in on Bryce Young instead — coinciding with a lot of positive reports about Young’s interviews and intelligence — that left people wondering if there was something going on privately with Stroud and that’s the reason his stock has supposedly tumbled. And that led football analysts to offer speculation-disguised-as-reporting to explain why the Panthers, and potentially others, have soured a bit on Stroud. 

Before we dive into those “reports,” though, a quick note. We don't know that Stroud’s stock has truly fallen. Carolina, team owner David Tepper most of all, has been high on Young for a while. More than a month ago, Adam Schefter said that Young was Tepper’s preferred quarterback. Perhaps, it’s as Peter King alluded to in his weekly column: This “Stroud in free fall” talk could be an internet, not real life, based narrative and almost everyone weighing in needs to go touch grass.

We should get some amount of clarity about Stroud on Thursday, whenever and wherever he’s drafted. Still, I worry that this recent smear campaign of sorts will follow him around, potentially doing permanent damage to his reputation. For that reason, I decided to look at each insult that has been slung at Stroud and try to either give it proper context or reveal why it’s a canard.

Claim No. 1: Stroud scored low on the S2 Cognition test 

First, you might be asking, “what the heck is the S2?” A valid question!

I would suggest reading two articles if you’re looking for a more thorough overview: The Athletic profiled the company in February, and last week, Acme Packing Co. put together an explainer that also points to its flaws.

In essence, the S2 Cognition test is a series of evaluations that measures an athlete’s reaction times. It is not, as the S2 website itself notes, an IQ test. 

So when Bob McGinn published the quarterbacks’ S2 scores — all unverified, from anonymous sources as he’s grossly and irresponsibly done for years with the Wonderlic — without that context or even understanding of the exam itself, some were quick to jump all over Stroud and impugn his intelligence. That, in itself, is a problem.

The other problem is we don’t know how accurate those scores are (nor is it really any of our business). The co-founder of S2 said on the PFF NFL Podcast that there has been misinformation floating around about the results and that all of the top four quarterbacks scored well. He then told Pat McAfee that at least a couple of those reported scores are off the mark. We also don’t know which parts of the test the quarterbacks may have performed better on than others.

But let’s say that you believe the leaked scores. Young, in the 98th percentile, has been taking the S2 test since high school. Stroud, in the 18th percentile, has not. More importantly, we have seen both quarterbacks, in real game situations, process quickly and make adjustments, often against top-level competition¹.

I’ve also read countless quotes from coaches who have been around each praise them for their football acumen. Over the weekend, OSU head coach Ryan Day — who has worked with QBs most of his career — was interviewed by The Columbus Dispatch and expressed his shock that Stroud’s cognitive abilities were being questioned:

“I just feel like this is one that I've always felt was what makes him special. For this to be something that's a topic of conversation right now is catching me off guard.”

In yet another anonymous-quotes filled article — this one focused exclusively on football, thankfully, so no digs about their character — here’s what one coach told Bruce Feldman about Stroud:

“He’s got high-level NFL accuracy and NFL vision. I think he understands the game so well and gets it out in under three seconds. He has very high football IQ.”

And here’s what another said about Young:

“I was really impressed, especially with his intelligence and his decision-making. He’s emotionally mature and really accurate.” 

All of that matches what we see on tape, which has to carry more weight than a cognition test that has only been used on some draft prospects since 2016. 

As one exec told Peter King, “All of a sudden the S2 test is the Bible. Why? It’s a smart test. But how did the guy play? How was his tape?”

S2 gained prominence this past year when it was revealed that Brock Purdy, the last pick in the 2022 draft and the guy who led the Niners to the playoffs, had a score in the “mid 90s.” But not every team uses the S2 to evaluate players. 

According to another article from The Athletic, 15 teams administered the test, which can only be taken by prospects now, not current players. The Panthers are one team that put its trust into the S2, whose founders believe it’s predictive of quarterback success. The Titans and Colts, two possible landing spots for Stroud, have also partnered with the company this year (the Texans have not, FWIW).

I still don’t think we have a big enough sample size or know enough about the process to definitively declare, one way or another, how legitimate the S2 is. I have no issue if a franchise wants to rely on it as one of its many methods to analyze a QB — maybe the Panthers really are applying it as a tiebreaker between Young and Stroud. Who knows?

However, I do have an issue if a team or GM starts treating it like a way to “hack” the draft scouting process. That’s not what it was designed to do. Besides, there have been tests before S2 and there will be tests after, and unless a future where precogs exist await us, there’s no way to be 100 percent certain that a quarterback will hit or not in the NFL. 

Claim No. 2: Stroud isn’t coachable

I had never heard anything — not even from the overly critical online Ohio State fanbase — to suggest that Stroud “is not easy to coach.” But that’s exactly what Michael Lombardi, the same guy who thinks Davis Mills and Justin Fields are on the same level, alleged on his podcast:

https://twitter.com/VSiNLive/status/1645829058444263442?s=20

"I think the word that people use is he's very not believing in what you're saying, and so he's a little bit challenging to coach,“ Lombardi added.

I have never personally been around Stroud, but then, neither has Lombardi, so I’ll pass along what I have heard, which is all on public record. 

Last year, Ohio State hired a new defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles. He spoke about Stroud trying to figure out the defense during practice:

“And C.J., he picks all that up. He and I talk and he asks questions, he wants to learn. He's really the best I've been around in terms of the way he handles (Knowles’ defense).”

Stroud also talked about his relationship with Day:

“Coach Day is really smart. So I mean, it's tough to kind of pick his brain in a sense. But I mean, I feel like I do a good job kind of testing him. I won't ask a dumb question, but I'll ask a question to see if it kind of irritates him or something.

“I love watching film, he loves watching film, looking at other defenses, new plays and definitely just piggybacking off each other. So Coach Day's definitely great when it comes to that and I feel like he tests my brain, too. 

“Sometimes I feel like he doesn't know how far I can go and I think I actually kinda surprise him sometimes, being a little smarter than he may think. So I definitely think that it is a great relationship.”

To me, that sounds like the same quarterback who, as a high school recruit at The Opening, spent his free time learning chess to help himself on the field. He’s someone who is eager to learn, asks a lot of questions, and puts in the time to get better. 

I guess if you’re playing a game of telephone, then I can see how “Stroud likes to test his coaches” becomes “Stroud is uncoachable.” But this is not a game of telephone. It’s someone’s future.

Claim No. 3: Stroud snubbed the Mannings

Last week, Brady Quinn was baffled why draftniks were suddenly second-guessing Stroud. On his podcast, Quinn was complimentary of Stroud and assumed there had to be another reason his stock had taken a hit. So Quinn tried to offer up that reason … with secondhand information he didn’t bother to check. 

“The Manning Passing Academy, I've been told that he committed to it the night before, just kind of ghosted them, didn't show up,” Quinn said. “That's football royalty. When you do that, that's going to set off some alarms for people.”

That quote went viral, without the rest of Quinn’s flattering evaluation of Stroud, which frustrated Quinn. But he’s the one who’s responsible for sharing that anecdote in the first place and didn’t make the effort to reach out to Stroud, or his rep, or his coaches, to find out if there was any truth to it. 

Ryan Clark did and discovered Stroud never committed to the camp. Then, he ripped into Quinn for gossiping and it turned into a whole Twitter beef that wasted everyone’s time simply because Quinn chose to act like Cousin Greg.

Claim No. 4: Stroud is selfish

In our final section, I have one more article replete with anonymous sources to cite. Last week, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero shared what NFL coaches and front office people had to say about Stroud and the rest of the quarterbacks. 

At one point, Pelissero highlighted some concerns he had heard that Stroud was selfish and not a good leader. I could understand why those might be red flags, but again, I’ve never heard that said about Stroud. And if you read the quote that Pelissero followed with, it gives you a lot of the context that’s missing:

“The first year he was at Ohio State competing for the job, he had to be about himself. Then, when he actually won the job, through the rest of ‘21 and on through the ‘22 offseason, he had to learn how to be a leader because he was always just driven to, I need to get this for myself, I gotta get this for my family, I gotta make sure I’m the starting quarterback. He was so driven that way, kind of with blinders on. Once he got the job, he had to go through a maturation of trying to figure out, OK, how do I lead a team?”

And my question is: How is anything of this a negative against Stroud? That’s especially true when you know more about his background. Stroud did not have a privileged upbringing and is likely motivated by his desire to take care of his family.

When Stroud was a kid, his family was comfortable. Then when he was 13, his father was given a 38-year prison sentence and his family struggled to make ends meet after that. He couldn’t afford a QB coach (unlike Young, who’s had one since middle school) or other high-end training, which meant that he had to work hard, and often on his own with an assist from YouTube, to develop and get schools to notice him. 

That didn’t really happen until the summer of 2019, when Stroud was about to enter the final year of high school. At The Opening — a national showcase of the top football talent, which he tried over and over again to get an invite for, until he finally did — he both impressed and struck up a friendship with a couple Ohio State recruits (including current draftmate Jaxon Smith-Njigba), who told Day that he had to check out Stroud. By October, Stroud had an Ohio State offer. Two years later, he was the starting quarterback. A year after that, he was a team captain as well.

He’s earned it all by putting in the work, constantly striving to improve. Why wouldn’t that also be the case in the NFL?

In Dane Brugler’s draft guide, his teammates called him “reserved and confident” and Pelissero’s article also mentioned that he was “guarded” at first with teams until he got to know them. Anyone could understand why: his whole world was turned upside when his dad — who he said was his “best friend” growing up — went to prison. I have no doubt that was traumatic. But even if it’s his nature not to open up to people right away, that’s not a character defect! 

From the outside, he seemed to have a great rapport with his OSU teammates and coaches. He wouldn’t have gone to Ohio State if he hadn’t bonded with JSN and company in the first place. One member of the recruiting staff told the Panthers’ team website that Stroud was “ultra-personable,” and a former teammate on Carolina’s roster, C.J. Saunders, implied (in a positive way) that Stroud led by example. Stroud also seemed sure, when he was interviewed by Ryan Clark, that his teammates would have his back — and considering that several of them shared that video, he had reason to feel that way. 

My most forgiving read on why scouts would call him selfish is that they simply don’t understand him. His competitiveness in particular might be mistaken for egoism, and whether that’s the case or not, it’s not fair to Stroud. None of the other claims have been either. 

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I’ve barely discussed Stroud’s skills as a quarterback in this newsletter, but that’s what this type of pre-draft BS does: It takes attention away from football and creates a noxious environment where these rumors are discussed with the same seriousness as actual red flags (like, in past drafts, when players have had domestic violence arrests or sexual assault allegations on their record).

I do not believe that Stroud’s game is beyond reproach, but I think he has as good a chance as any other QB in this class to be a success². If you want more of an analytical look at Stroud's play, I'll link to a few recent recommendations: Bill Connelly's overview about the QBs, Ted Nguyen’s film breakdowns, and Derrik Klassen’s annual quantifying charts.

I hope that on Thursday night, Stroud ends up with a team that’s an ideal fit for him and that he thrives in the NFL, just as I wish the best for the other prospects who are trying to fulfill a lifelong dream. That’s what I’d liked to see more of in the draft process: cheering for these young men, not tearing them down in ways they don’t deserve.

1. With good reason, most would point to the Georgia game as evidence of Stroud’s ability to think on his feet, but I’d also like to mention what he did against Iowa, which had the No. 1 defense, per SP+, in FBS last season. On his first drive of the game, he didn’t complete any passes. On his second drive, Stroud was stripped of the ball and Iowa ran it back for a touchdown. On his third drive, he was a perfect 4-for-4 and led OSU on its first touchdown drive. Stroud’s final line: 20 of 30, 286 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, 184.1 passer rating, 69.9 QBR.

2. In the past few years, I haven’t been all that confident that any QB, except for Trevor Lawrence, would be a star and even he didn’t escape the “bust” label until halfway through last season.