Ohio State Buckeyes: C.J. Stroud testing new helmet this spring

“It’s a little odd-looking, which I like,” Stroud said. “I’m not always looking to be normal, you know what I’m saying? Watch, in two years or a year and half, everybody is going to be wearing the helmet and nobody is going to be talking mess about it anymore.”

After wearing a Riddell “Diamond” helmet last year, Stroud is trying out a new model called the Axiom from the same company.

Fans are most likely to notice the face mask does not have a bar across the top, a change the company says adds additional flexibility to the front of the helmet and better distributes the energy of an impact.

The uniquely shaped face mask also “provides a sweeping view of the field,” and a factory-installed visor is included for additional eye protection.

“I like it,” Stroud said. “I think it’s a good helmet. It’s like an astronaut look. I think it’s a cool thing. I think it’s something people will warm up to.”

He confirmed the different face mask allows him to see more of the field and said the padding inside the helmet is more comfortable.

“I don’t know the science to it,” he said before picking up the helmet to show to reporters, “but like this padding here is really, really comfortable.

“On my old helmet, it wasn’t uncomfortable, but it didn’t feel good to me. It was kind of like hard on my head. So this one I can press into and it’s kind of like memory foam if you ask me. And then like on the top like it’s more like flexible. It bends in more.”

Riddell said the helmet also includes a “flexible shell concept” previously introduced in older helmets that is engineered to surround the head with a combination of panels that work together to improve the helmet’s response to hits.

The Axiom helmet also comes standard with a system that senses and reports impacts in real time and transmits them to programs that subscribe to Riddell’s Inside Analytics system “to provide deeper understanding of the Head Impact Exposure athletes experience during practices and games.”

Stroud does not want to be a trendsetter, “but I always try to start things. And it’s comfortable. I think my health is more important than how it looks. I don’t want to ever suffer a concussion or things like that.”

The Riddell Diamond and Axiom helmets both appeared on a list of top-performing helmets the NFL published in March after conducting lab tests, and both are among those the league is recommending for its players in 2022.