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DJ Bien-Aime, ESPN
HOUSTON — Star receiver Stefon Diggs said Thursday he sees quarterback C.J. Stroud as “family” as the Houston Texans duo prepares for their Week 1 debut together against the Indianapolis Colts.
Diggs said he’s “extremely excited” for the regular season to arrive. Since the Texans traded for Diggs in April, Stroud and he have spent countless hours together throughout the offseason building their chemistry on and off the field. The former Buffalo Bills wideout said the relationship with Stroud dates to when they initially met at the Pro Bowl in January.
“It’s been a nice road,” Diggs said. “I look at him as family, not just my quarterback. I’m rocking with him through thick and thin. I always tell him I am with you when you’re right, I’m with you when you’re wrong.”
Stroud shares a similar sentiment regarding the connection Diggs and he have created. Throughout the offseason, the 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year has helped teach the All-Pro receiver the Texans’ playbook, even when he was absent at times from OTAs. The pair spent time running routes after training camp practice to build timing.
“It has improved drastically. I think me and him already had a natural connection on the field and we just built it and built it and built it,” Stroud said this week. “I think you have seen it on the field, just rep, after rep, after rep. Just me and him having a conversation, just me and him talking about things we like, things we don’t like and just being transparent. It is going to continue to grow, and it is going to be a special connection.”
Stroud and Diggs this week were named as two of the Texans’ seven captains for this season.
The Texans are the third team Diggs has played for in his 10-year career after a four-year stint with the Bills (2020-2023) and a five-year tenure with the Minnesota Vikings after being drafted in 2015. Stroud will be the third Pro Bowl-level quarterback he has teamed up with in his career, and the first two times Diggs had a standout initial season.
When the Vikings signed quarterback Kirk Cousins to a three-year, $84 million contract in 2018, Diggs finished with 102 catches and 1,021 yards for his first 100-catch and 1,000-yard season in his career. When he joined the Bills and quarterback Josh Allen in 2020, he led the league in catches (127) and yards (1,535) and earned his first All-Pro nod.
Since 2020, Diggs ranks first in receptions (445), fourth in touchdowns (37) and fourth in receiving yards (5,372). So, the expectation is that the Stroud-Diggs combination should excel after the former No. 2 pick led the league in passing yards per game (274), touchdown-to-interception ratio (23:5) and became the fifth rookie to throw for over 4,000 yards (4,108) last season.
“I am really excited about adding Stefon [Diggs] to our team. I mean, you talk about his influence, it’s not just his influence on the receivers, it’s just his influence on our entire team,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “His competitive spirit, what he brings each and every day, like it lights the fire in our entire team. So, I’m very pleased with what he’s done, the energy that he brings, and I’m excited to see him go do it in the regular season.”