By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer
LAS VEGAS — Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award in a landslide announced at NFL Honors on Thursday night.
The Rancho Cucamonga alumnus received 48 of 50 first-place votes with Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua getting the other two.
Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick, threw for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, five interceptions and had a passer rating of 100.8, third-best by a rookie. He helped the Texans go from worst to first place in the AFC South and led them to a playoff win in the wild-card round.
Stroud led the league in passing yards per game (273.9) and had the best touchdown-interception ratio at 4.6, becoming just the third player in NFL history to finish first in both categories, joining Joe Montana (1989) and Tom Brady (2007).
Nacua set a rookie record with 105 receptions and 1,486 yards receiving yards. Lions tight end Sam LaPorta finished third.
Myles Garrett beat out T.J. Watt for the AP Defensive Player of the Year award.
Cleveland’s All-Pro edge rusher received 23 first-place votes and 165 points to Watt’s 19 first-place votes and 140 points from a nationwide panel of voters that includes media members who regularly cover the NFL, former players and coaches.
First-place votes are worth five points, second-place votes are three and third-place votes are one.
Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz won the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award after guiding the league’s No. 1 ranked unit.
Schwartz received 25 first-place votes and finished with 160 points, easily outpacing Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.
Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons finished third for Defensive Player of the Year with 89 points, including seven first-place votes. Cornerback DaRon Bland, Parson’s teammate, got the other first-place vote and came in fifth behind Raiders edge Maxx Crosby.
Watt, who won the award in 2021, led the NFL with 19…
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