The truth is C.J. Stroud never let it get to him, even as draft day neared and the questions started coming and the conversation around him shifted.
“Look at my perspective,” he’d say later. “I’m about to get drafted regardless of that dang test.”
He was right — Stroud, the Ohio State quarterback who was among the top prospects in last year’s NFL Draft, still went second to the Houston Texans, and in a matter of months, the 22-year-old would put together one of the most prolific seasons by a rookie quarterback in league history, lifting a flagging franchise from the league cellar to the divisional round of the playoffs.