Despite Shannon Sharpe’s Pressure, CJ Stroud Backed to Help Stefon Diggs and Co Break 1,000 Yard Barrier

CBS just released their QB-WR rankings and CJ Stroud ranks on top, paired with Houston’s latest addition, Stefon Diggs. Even though the list is full of star QBs like Josh Allen, Caleb Williams, Russell Wilson, and Justin Herbert amongst many others, there’s something about Stroud paired with other receivers that makes Unc and Ocho think highly of the Texans.

In the latest episode of Nightcap, Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson expressed their opinions about how the new NFL season might look after all the teams making huge changes to the roster. While Shannon Sharpe is apprehensive of the Texans QB, Ochocinco thinks Stroud can take his receivers’ careers to a new plateau.

The rift between Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson about CJ Stroud

There is even more pressure on CJ Stroud after the team surrounded him with pieces like Tank Dell, Nico Collins, Dalton Schultz, and most importantly Stefon Diggs. Most of these receivers had 1,000 yards seasons and for those who didn’t Stroud is expected to elevate them. Stroud, the second overall pick, led his team to the playoffs after having 4,108 yards and a 23 TD season.

Nico Collins, who never even had 500 yards in his bag in the two seasons he played before Stroud, suddenly became a star last season after he amassed 1,297 yards and 8 touchdowns. Similarly, Tank Dell’s rookie season was nothing short of inspiring either. He had 709 yards and 7 TDs last season. It’s clear by now that CJ Stroud’s receivers are about to reach an elite status soon. But Shannon Sharpe had one small problem with the assessment.

“I like CJ Stroud,” said Sharpe and paused before unapologetically adding, “He got his work cut out for him. Because Tank Dell and Nico Collins…it’s Houston.” One would expect talent around the QB to grow over the years, be it professionally or personally, and Chad Johnson thinks that Stroud has no shortage of trailblazers in the arsenal.

“Listen, I guarantee you, CJ Stroud, Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Stefon Diggs, a lot of people saying, ‘Oh Diggs is not going to get as many targets’ blah blah blah,’” said Johnson and added, “Listen, CJ Stroud finna sling that ball man. That’s what he’s done. I don’t know why I can feel it deep down inside of me, because he’s so efficient as a passer, I really think everybody will have a 1000 yards,” thus burying the hatchet when it comes to Stroud’s role in helping his receivers.

CJ Stroud and Stefon Diggs duo are bound to succeed

Let’s talk about Stefon Diggs for a second. Diggs, from the past 6 seasons has been making quite an impact on the field. He has had six consecutive thousand-yard seasons and this year looks no different. An analysis says that no player has ever caught so many passes as Stefon Diggs paired with Josh Allen. With the Bills, Diggs caught passes for 5,372 yards and had 37 touchdowns, which ranks 4 in the NFL.

A lot of that credit goes to Josh Allen as well, but with Houston, there’s a catch. CJ Stroud only threw 5 interceptions for the whole season, which is quite helpful when it comes to getting those crucial downs and scoring points. On the other hand, Josh Allen was the second-highest intercepted player in the league last year, which means some of his passes didn’t make it to the intended receivers. Allen recorded 18 interceptions in the last season and those numbers had been quite high ever since he joined the league.

Hence, arguably, Stefon Diggs missed some yards and touchdowns. If Stroud keeps his gameplay free of interceptions, there are very high chances that every primary receiver in his arsenal would have a 1,000-plus-yard season or somewhere in that ballpark.