Summary of What happened to C.J. Stroud last season? 2026 Lingering Questions, episode 3

Overview of The Athletic Football Show — “What happened to C.J. Stroud last season? 2026 Lingering Questions, episode 3”

This episode revisits three major offseason questions: whether the Giants’ defense can finally live up to its talent, what really happened to C.J. Stroud down the stretch last season, and whether the Jaguars’ late-season offensive surge was genuine. The hosts argue that the most important theme across all three teams is context: scheme, supporting cast, and structural fit matter as much as raw talent.

Giants Defense: Talent Is There, But the Floor Still Matters

The discussion centered on whether the Giants’ defense can finally become more than a preseason hype team.

Main points

• Run defense was the biggest problem last year.
  • The Giants were bottom-tier against the run by success rate and explosiveness allowed.
  • Their issues were not just individual mistakes, but also structural: poor fits, light boxes, weak edge-setting, and limited schematic help for linebackers.
• The roster has changed a lot, but not enough to assume a full fix.
  • The front lost key pieces and added veterans like DJ Reader and Shelby Harris, but the overall interior still feels like a step back in talent.
  • The edge group is built around speed/rush play, but that only works if the interior holds up and the linebackers fit cleanly.
• The new staff could help.
  • The hosts liked the possibility that Denard Wilson will use more range, more variation, and more creative run-defense structure than the Giants showed last year.
  • They also expect more flexibility from the linebackers, especially Ar’Darius (Arvell) Reese and Tremaine Edmunds.
• Pass defense could be solid, but not elite.
  • The secondary has enough pieces to be respectable, especially with Javon Holland and improved sub-package flexibility.
  • But the comparison to Denver’s defense was dismissed as too optimistic because the Broncos’ front is simply stronger.

Bottom line

The hosts think the Giants can improve meaningfully, but “middling” would already be a success. The key is not assuming a breakout just because the roster has some exciting names.

C.J. Stroud: Bad Endings, Real Concerns, and a Bigger Question

The Stroud segment asked whether his late-season collapse was a true regression or just a rough stretch amplified by context.

Main points

• The playoff games were disastrous.
  • Against Pittsburgh and New England, Stroud’s decision-making got loose, he held the ball too long, and he made bad plays worse.
  • The hosts stressed that those games were genuinely ugly and should not be excused.
• But the regular-season decline may be overstated.
  • Stroud still posted solid advanced passing numbers overall.
  • The playoff performance and the Seahawks game are disproportionately shaping the public perception of his season.
• The Texans’ offense created major problems for him.
  • The offensive line was poor for a second straight year.
  • The run game never forced defenses to respect it.
  • The Texans had almost no tight end depth and had to use heavy personnel in ways that didn’t consistently help Stroud.
  • They also gave him very little screen-game help and didn’t use enough easy throws or depth-adjusting answers.
• Stroud’s style changed after his concussion.
  • Before the injury, he was more willing to create off-script and scramble.
  • Afterward, he seemed more hesitant, more static in the pocket, and more likely to let bad situations snowball.
• The big debate is contract timing, not starter status.
  • Nobody on the show thinks Stroud is broken or not a starting-caliber quarterback.
  • The real question is whether he’s already worth top-of-market money, or whether Houston should wait for one more season of evidence.

Bottom line

The hosts believe Stroud is still a good quarterback, but one whose best traits are being masked by a bad offensive environment and a rough ending. The Texans now face the classic problem: pay the young QB early, or wait for more proof and risk paying more later.

Jaguars: The Second-Half Surge Was Real, But It Needs Better Foundations

The Jags’ late-season offensive jump was treated as mostly legitimate, but the hosts were careful about what exactly that means going forward.

Main points

• They do believe in the Liam Coen / Trevor Lawrence pairing.
  • Coen appears to be a strong play-caller who understands how to place players in the right roles.
  • Lawrence looked more comfortable attacking intermediate and deeper areas of the field, especially out of the shotgun.
• The passing-game improvement felt real.
  • Lawrence’s best stretch came when the offense simplified into a more aggressive, timing-based approach.
  • The staff got Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, and Jakobi Meyers into more appropriate roles, which helped Lawrence play more decisively.
• The run game was still a major concern.
  • Jacksonville’s run-game efficiency fell apart even as the passing offense improved.
  • The hosts were skeptical of the team’s bargain-bin approach to replacing the running back production they lost.
• The offensive line is the biggest question.
  • Even during the strong second half, the Jaguars were still allowing too much pressure.
  • The offense often felt like it was “getting away with it” rather than building on a sustainable foundation.
• The best-case comp is a team like the 49ers.
  • Not because Jacksonville has the same talent, but because it may need to be an offense that wins through scheme, structure, and quarterback/play-caller synergy despite only average line play.

Bottom line

The hosts think Jacksonville’s late-season surge was meaningful, but they do not expect that exact version of the offense to simply continue unchanged. A finish around 11th in offense would still be a strong outcome.

Key Takeaways

• Giants defense: better process and coaching could help, but the unit still looks more “functional” than great.
• C.J. Stroud: the playoffs were ugly, but the bigger story is an under-supported quarterback trying to survive bad structure.
• Jaguars: the Trevor Lawrence / Liam Coen combo is real, but the offense needs a sturdier run game and offensive line to sustain top-tier production.

Final Thought

The episode’s core message is restraint: don’t overreact to hype, don’t overcorrect for a bad finish, and don’t confuse a good stretch with a solved problem. Each of these teams has real upside, but all three still have important foundational questions to answer.