Houston Texans QB CJ Stroud Nominated for ESPY Award

Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud has already won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award after guiding his team to a division title for the first time since 2019.

After becoming just the fifth quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 4,000 yards in his rookie season, you could say he’s become an NFL star. He could now be the next professional sensation in any sport.

Stroud was nominated for the ESPYS for “Best Upcoming Athlete” earlier this week. He will join San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama, USC basketball player JuJu Watkins and gymnast Haleigh Bryant in the running for the award.

H7M 🔥 pic.twitter.com/P1ejAJM74d

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) June 27, 2024

Each candidate has a case following their dominant seasons. The Breakthrough Athlete of the Year award is given to the sportsperson who has made the most substantial breakthrough in their respective sport, either as a rookie or simply by rapidly improving their performance.

Stroud, who helped Houston triple its win total starting in 2022 while becoming the youngest quarterback in league history to win a playoff game, might be the favorite. Houston won a total of 11 games from 2020 to 2022 and fired three coaches each offseason.

Stroud also became the third player in league history to lead the NFL in both touchdown-to-interception ratio (23:5) and passing yards per game (274) in the same season, joining Hall of Famer Joe Montana and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.

Vote @CJ7STROUD for “Best Breakthrough Athlete” at the ESPYS: https://t.co/1kaeTxI5vw

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) June 27, 2024

The award is currently held by former LSU star and current Chicago Sky recruit Angel Reese. Awarded to the best newcomer to his sport since 1993, other notable winners include Tiger Woods (1997), Kurt Warner (2000), Brady (2002), LeBron James (2004), Adrian Peterson (2007), Jeremy Lin (2013) , Dak Prescott (2017) and Saquon Barkley (2019).

The 2024 ESPY Awards will take place July 11 at 7 p.m. on ABC.