C.J. Stroud 'looked good' at practice, impressing with arm strength after rest
COLUMBUS — The midweek progress report for C.J. Stroud at Ohio State: Passing.
Obviously for a quarterback, that’s an encouraging sign for the Buckeyes as they try to get the starter back in action following a week of rest for a sore shoulder.
That recovery time appears to be working, and one of the guys on the other end of Stroud’s throws at practice over the last couple days came away raving with the results on Wednesday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
“I mean, he looked good,” Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson said. “He seems like he’s healthy again. It’s the best I’ve seen him spin it in a while.
“So, he definitely looked good practice wise.”
Wilson obviously isn’t a doctor or a coach, so he’s not going to be making the final decision on if Stroud actually starts for Ohio State at Rutgers on Saturday afternoon. But the junior superstar had been part of conversations with his quarterback last week about how the time on the sideline could pay off down the road, which may have helped take at least some of the pressure off mentally for Stroud last week.
Missing any reps at this early stage in his career was going to sting for Stroud, particularly since talented backup Kyle McCord was getting a public audition for the job in the Horseshoe while he was relegated to emergency duty. But nothing that happened against Akron or since Stroud has resumed throwing for Ohio State has done anything to change the pecking order at the most important position on the field.
“There’s only one quarterback, so you feel the pressure to be there every week,” Wilson told Lettermen Row. “If you’re not there, as a competitor you just feel like somebody is coming at your neck. But I think he embraced everything. When you miss a week, you can control how it affects you. If you really use that time to get back healthy and use those same mental reps, that can help you — because his shoulder was really bothering him.
“I wanted him to get back to where he was feeling good and trusting himself to make throws. I was one of the main proponents of him taking the week off to feel good, because the timing and stuff like that was just a little different. I had seen him in spring and summer just be absolutely able to rip the ball, so it’s just one of those things where I wanted his confidence to be there. I think he’s back to that point right now.”
Even when he wasn’t fully healthy, C.J. Stroud was posting some eye-popping numbers for the Buckeyes.
If the best is still yet to come, Garrett Wilson and the Ohio State receivers could be seeing him spin it a whole lot more as Big Ten play resumes.
