Texans coach DeMeco Ryans says film helped overlook C.J. Stroud’s S2 Cognition test

The draft process is exactly that: a process. Teams go through a series of events and tests to get a true idea of what player they may drafting.

One part of the draft process, at least for quarterbacks, is the cognitive aspect. No team would want to entrust a player with common sense challenges in a position of leadership. Why not get a little insight as to how the player thinks?

Such was the case for Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, who didn’t score so well on the S2 Cognition test. Nevertheless the Houston Texans took Stroud anyway No. 2 overall in the 2023 NFL draft, and appear to be the better for it. Stroud has just two interceptions on the year, the lowest among quarterbacks who have started every game.

Coach DeMeco Ryans told reporters Nov. 15 that the S2 test wasn’t going to make or break their evaluation of Stroud.

“For me, with any evaluation of prospects, the thing is, you don’t look at one thing and make a decision based off of one thing,” said Ryans. “It’s — for me — you look at the tape. You watch C.J.’s film. You talk about playing quarterback — he’s one of the best quarterbacks coming out of this draft based on the decision making on film, speaking with him in person, getting to understand him, getting to know him better, his personality, seeing how he treats others, seeing how his teammates love him, seeing the care they have for him, seeing how his coaches speak about him. When you take all those things, you take all those things into consideration — that’s what helped me make the decision.”

With Houston sitting at 5-4 and their rookie signal caller’s stellar play the center of it all, it is fair to conclude the Texans conducted their due diligence with Stroud.