C.J. Stroud, Jordan Love took different paths to lead teams to success

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud and his counterpart with the Green Bay Packers, Jordan Love, have seemingly been tied together by many in the media looking to make comparisons.

There's a reason for that, too. 

Both players had breakout seasons in 2023 to catapult themselves near the top of the NFL quarterback standings. Stroud threw for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns (five interceptions) while leading an upstart and young Texans team to the playoffs. He was the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year. Meanwhile, Love threw for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns (11 interceptions) while leading the upstart and young Packers to the playoffs.

The two will now meet for the first time this weekend as the 4-2 Packers play host to the 5-1 Texans.

The hype over the upcoming matchup has brought those comparisons between the two back to the forefront, but someone who has quite a bit invested in this one — Packers head coach Matt LaFleur — doesn't seem to want to compare the two young quarterbacks.

“I just think they’re young quarterbacks that are capable of making all the throws. That’s probably a better question for somebody else than me.” LaFleur told the media when asked for a comparison between the two, according to Ryan Wood of Packers News. "I don’t sit there and study C.J. like that. I haven’t until, this is our first chance going against him, but I do have a lot of respect for him and what he was able to do a year ago just to be able to come into the league as a young player and put up the type of numbers that he did and lead them into the playoffs. I think that was pretty impressive.”

“I try to avoid the comparisons,” LaFleur continued. “I just know they have a lot of great players who have been doing it at a high level for a long time.”

The Texans do have a stacked offense with players like Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins, Tank Dell and Dalton Schultz all providing Stroud with a bevy of options. The Packers are pretty stacked at receiver as well, though. The trio of Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson is extremely dangerous and that's not even mentioning breakout tight end Tucker Kraft or running back Josh Jacobs, who can both make big plays for Green Bay's offense.

Both teams are stacked offensively. There's no doubt about it. That's really where the comparisons end, though. 

Go back to last season. Stroud was a rookie and Love, though he was a first-year starter for the Packers, was in his third season as a pro. Stroud was a former Heisman Trophy winner from Ohio State whom the Texans took No. 2 overall in the draft. Love was a relatively unknown "high upside" flyer out of Utah State who was taken 26 overall to the shock of the NFL world. 

Stroud was thrown into the fire with a franchise that was really at a low point before he took off as a rookie. Love was replacing a four-time MVP quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, who himself was replacing a Hall of Famer in Brett Favre. 

The Texans and Packers couldn't have been any more different heading into 2023. The fact that they are both where they're at now, as legitimate contenders, says a ton about both Love and Stroud. 

Their stories and paths to success could not be any more different, though.