C.J. Stroud said the next time he was back in Los Angeles, he’d look to sling a couple of passes with Matthew Stafford.
Instead, Stafford is headed to NRG Stadium to make that dream a reality in August.
With the L.A. Rams headed to Houston for their final preseason game against the Texans, both sides have agreed to a joint practice on August 22. That means that while Stroud and Stafford try to dazzle one another against opposing defenses, they’ll also spend time discussing the game they love.
For Stroud, the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, consider this a bucket list item since he considers Stafford one of the league’s top passers since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2009.
“I’m a student of the game. Stafford is a dog, bro,” Stroud said on the Million Dollaz Worth Of Game podcast with Gillie Da Kid and Wallo. “I don’t watch nobody else.”
Stroud mentioned that he’d watch film on players like Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes but noted the film isn’t as constructive as Stafford’s since the three-time Super Bowl-winner, “does some stuff that, like, you can’t coach.”
Stafford, two years removed from leading Los Angeles to its first Super Bowl title since the days of Kurt Warner, offers a bit of flair yet also consistency.
“I’m trying to go to where they working out and watch,” Stroud said on the show. “He elite.”
Stafford might not give Stroud all his words of wisdom, but any advice is warranted. He’s been one of the league’s most consistent gunslingers since being drafted by Detriot out of Georgia, and carried that legacy over to Los Angeles.
Stroud is already ahead of schedule in some minds after his breakout first season. He led Houston to its first division title in four years and carved up one of the league’s top secondaries in Cleveland during the wild-card round.
Who knows, perhaps a conversation between Stroud and Stafford is a preview for a showdown in New Orleans for a Lombardi Trophy come February?