C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young were friends long before Sunday's game between the Texans and Panthers

C.J. Stroud can still recall the day. It was about seven, maybe eight years ago when he first met Bryce Young.

The two were in middle school playing in Snoop’s Youth Football League in the greater Los Angeles area. Young played for the Inland Empire Ducks and Stroud played for the Pomona Valley Steelers, two of the best teams in the league. 

Prior to this matchup, they hadn’t met yet. They had known about each other. Most kids and coaches in the league had heard of Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud — two young quarterbacks who could sling the rock.

There’s a video on YouTube posted seven years ago that shows highlights from the game. A 14-year-old Young is seen dropping back and zipping passes to his teammates for first downs and touchdowns.

Stroud and his team struggled that day.

The final score: Ducks 22 Steelers 0.

“I remember we played in the rain,” Stroud recalled with a smile as he stood at a podium for his weekly press conference. “He had a really good game and I played terrible.”

They met after the game and grew to be friendly. Their mothers became friends. And later, after high school became close.

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But their friendship blossomed this past spring when they trained together for the 2023 NFL draft, where they were taken No. 1 and No. 2 to the Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans, respectively.

They share the same personal throwing coach, John Beck. So, every day they trained together at 3DQB in Huntington Beach, Calif. They threw together. Watched film. Played basketball. Hung out.

“That’s my brother, man,” Stroud said of Young.

On Sunday, the two close friends and competitors will face off again — for the first time in their professional careers — when the Texans (3-3) take on the Panthers (0-6) at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. It will be the first time the two players have faced each other since they were in high school and should be the first of many head-to-head battles in their NFL careers.

Young and Stroud will forever be linked together after going No. 1 and No. 2 in the draft. Had the Panthers chosen Stroud with the No. 1 pick, the Texans likely would have Young as their quarterback.

“They played a lot of ball in college, and it was clear to me that both of those guys were the top two quarterbacks coming out in this draft, and they’ve both done a really nice job,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said.

They symbolize hope and the future for their respective franchises, which haven’t had winning seasons in years. The Panthers haven’t had a winning season since 2017. The Texans haven’t had a winning season since 2019.

In a league that caters to the passing game, both teams have been devoid of a quarterback in recent years.

But they have them.

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And they’ll be integral to their success for many years.

Those who have played with both quarterbacks often mention their competitiveness.

“They are two different people but very similar in a lot of ways,” said Texans receiver John Metchie, who played with Young at Alabama. “They both play well as a quarterback. They both make the right decisions as a quarterback on the field and off the field. Off the field they carry themselves the right way.”

Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr., who played with Young at Alabama for three years said the same.

“I think C.J. and Bryce are similar just the way they control the game,” Anderson said. “Very patient quarterbacks. Very accurate. Very smart. … And off the field they are just great guys, brothers. Any time you need them, they are there for you.”

Different NFL starts

The starts to Stroud and Young’s careers have gone in different directions.

The Texans are 3-3 and in contention for the AFC South. They currently trail the Jaguars by 1½ games and trail the Bills for the final wild card spot by half a game.

A big reason for that is Stroud’s play.

He has thrown for 1,660 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception, while completing 59.6% of his passes. He broke the rookie record for most pass attempts without throwing an interception to start a career, and most passing yards to start a career without throwing a pick. He is the front runner for NFL offensive rookie of the year.

“Why C.J. has had success — I think it starts with his mental preparation,” Ryans said. “He’s really dedicated to the process of studying (and) making sure he’s prepared when he goes into games.

“He’s also had success because I think the guys around him have all gelled well together. They play well together, so it just starts with the mental preparation for him, which he’s off the charts.”

Meanwhile, the Panthers have struggled. They are the league’s only winless team at 0-6.

Through the first five games of his NFL career, Young has thrown for 967 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions, while completing 63.2% of his passes.

He has an 0-5 record as a starter. He missed one game with an injury.

In the Carolinas, some fans are having buyer’s remorse, wishing the Panthers had taken Stroud over Young. The coaching staff with the Panthers have continued to support him.

Panthers coach Frank Reich reiterated to local reporters though they liked C.J. Stroud and the other quarterbacks in the draft, they felt they got the right guy.

Stroud also has a different opinion of Young’s play.

“Personally, watching the film and watching every game of his, I don’t think in any way aspect or form, he’s playing bad,” Stroud said. “That’s what people think if you’re not winning or you have a turnover here or there. Bryce is playing some really good football. I just don’t think people watch in depth.

“But if you’re a quarterback you know.”

That’s not to say there aren’t things he can clean up, Stroud says.

He says there are things he can clean up with his own game.

“I’m not here to be his coach or be that,” Stroud said. “I’m here just to support. We texted a couple of weeks ago just checking in on each other and it was nothing about football. That’s not our relationship.

“But personally, I think he’s playing good and he’ll continue to be great in this game because he has that swagger and mentality and that type of playing style.”

How a relationship grew

Stroud and Young’s relationship go beyond football.

They could be bitter rivals, but they aren’t.

While they are competitive and want to beat the other person, they also genuinely care about each other and their success.

That relationship developed this spring as they were training together.

They talked about their love of basketball, finding out that they had probably played each other on the AAU circuit as elementary-aged kids, well before their middle school meeting.

They played pick up games sometimes. And their trainer John Beck, co-founder of 3DQB and a former Houston Texans quarterback, said he’d have to prohibit them from guarding each other because the two athletes were so competitive.

“You had to monitor them because first it was friendly,” Beck said, “then the talking would start to happen, and then you’d see the competitiveness start to come out in each one of them, and it’s like alright, no, no, nope. You guard someone else.”

Stroud is 6-foot-3, while Young is 5-foot-10. Stroud is more of a shooter. Young is more of a point guard. But Stroud maintains Young doesn’t let that get the best of him.

“It gets crazy,” Stroud said of their basketball games. “He’ll get me on a day, I’ll get him on the next. It’s very back and forth. He can hoop though, for sure.”

The competition didn’t stop there.

They’d do one-on-one drills, where one player would play as a wide receiver, and the other would play as a defensive back.

If one person got the other person, the other would want his revenge.

“Things like that happened all the time,” Beck said.

But even despite their competitiveness, Beck maintains that there was a mutual admiration and genuine love between the two players. He points to draft day when Young was taken No. 1 by the Panthers.

Young delayed walking on stage and celebrating, so he could see Stroud drafted.

When they met each other off-stage, they shared a hug.

“There’s never not going to be a time I’m not rooting for C.J.,” Young said this week. “Maybe this weekend would be the exception. But I think C.J. thinks the same way.

“We both want what’s best for each other. We both want to be successful. I try to be internally motivated and run my own race.”

When they meet prior to Sunday’s game, it will likely be a friendly meeting. They’ll probably exchange pleasantries and then after the game exchange jerseys.

“It’s a blessing to have a brother like that to go through the same type of struggle, same type of pressures — the things like that,” Stroud said. “We talk a lot about that stuff in the offseason and things like that, so it’s a blessing to have someone like that in my life.”