Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom came out of the Tuscaloosa locker room in November 2021 to peek at Bryce YoungAlabama’s undersized quarterback, in pregame practice.
Young’s exciting sophomore season put him atop the Heisman Trophy race and defied football conventions, and Odom couldn’t help getting a field-level glimpse of the sports superstar. Alabama Young was listed at 6-foot-1 and 194 pounds, but everyone knows those numbers mean he was basically stomping on a phone book and his weight was artificially padded with a few slabs of Tuscaloosa’s famous Dreamland ribs.
In the cool of the early afternoon, Odom quickly realized the scope of his challenge. As often happened in an ornate high school and college, Young’s arm talent overshadowed his modest size.
“He had this quick kick and the ball just exploded out of his hand,” said Odom, who is now the head coach of UNLV. “He throws every throw across the field in warm-ups. I knew at that point it was probably going to be a long night.”
Young specialized in pitching long nights for opponents in his two seasons as a starter at Alabama, going 23-4. That afternoon against Odom’s defense, he threw five touchdown passes and no interceptions on his way to the Heisman win.
In 2022, he threw for 32 touchdowns and only five interceptions while playing for a significantly inferior receiving team. In just two seasons as a starter, he was the second-leading passer in Alabama history (8,356 yards).
With the NFL Draft kicking off Thursday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC/ESPN app), that benchmark of consistent production has made Young the sack favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick. At 5-foot-10, he’ll be the third quarterback in the The under-6-footer combined draft era to be selected in the first round, joining Kyler Murray and Johnny Manziel.
According to data collected in the NFL going back to 1999, Young would also be the lightest quarterback in the first round. Young weighed in at 204 on the set, and the list of quarterbacks who weigh the least includes a bunch of forgotten names like Aaron Brooks (203), Trace McSorley (202) and Seneca Wallace (196).
That’s the conundrum conundrum ultimately facing the #1 ranked Carolina Panthers — could they use a valuable piece of a real estate project for a player whose size makes them an exception? The youngster looms as an anomaly even among smaller midfielders, as he is a pure pocket passer. Only 12% of his passes in college came from his pocket, according to ESPN Stats & Information Research.
“If you pick him, you’d say he’s the most outstanding player in the history of the league,” said a veteran NFL executive. Kyler Murray was that big, but he was sturdier and stronger built and was 4.4 seconds down. [Young is] A great player and a great kid, but you say this guy is the most abnormal in the history of the league.”
The NFL draft industry has been built over the years on paradigms: height, weight, and speed. These prototypes have been around for decades, and they serve as guidelines and guardrails for franchises looking to avoid mistakes.
Young’s case was made by a group of bemused defensive coordinators and impressed coaches who watched him thrive through the sidelines. And he leaves one of his finest draft questions to the past generation: Could Bryce Young be the exception?
When Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea planned Young’s game in September, he didn’t think twice about his size in the formula for how to try to stop him.
“It’s the skill set that makes up for the size,” Leah said. “When you’re out there on the court with him, you don’t look at him and say, ‘He’s small.’ He plays bigger than that, it’s a compliment to his competitive mentality and his stature on the field.
“Size matters if you can pull off throwing lanes. His skills give him the ability to extend plays, advance and find windows to make throws.”
Young’s 79 touchdowns in two seasons at Alabama ranks as the most in the SEC over a two-year period. He missed just one game—against Texas A&M in 2022 due to a shoulder injury—and showed off the physical and mental skills that piqued the NFL’s interest and left a trail of hapless defenders behind.
Speaking with half a dozen coaches last week who faced Young, the two traits most apparent were his innate pocket feel and his ability to diagnose and dissect defenses accordingly.
The play that may have defined his elite instincts came in a win over Texas in September, when Young made a Houdini action that resonated as one of the most impressive performances of the season. Texas defensive back Ryan Watts was unblocked in the Alabama backcourt, and Young dropped so low in the last possible second to avoid Watts that his face mask scraped the ground.
He then rushed 20 yards to the 17-yard line to set up the winning 33-yard field goal three plays later.
Bryce Young’s game-tying run lead to Alabama’s winning field goal
Bryce Young runs off the blitz for a big first down, which leads to an Alabama field goal.
“It’s like a marker — it’s the fastest thing out there and nobody can touch it,” said former Auburn coach Brian Harsin. “He can make guys miss the road and get out of the way. That play against Texas was something you see in a movie, like ‘The Matrix,’ and then run for it.
“His sinus awareness is probably some of the best I’ve seen in college. He’ll just stand there. He’ll know nothing’s open, buy some time and someone will open up to him.”
Harsin coached Boise State’s Colin Moore—6-foot-197 in the NFL in 2012—for four seasons as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for the Broncos. Moore finished his career at Boise 50-3 as a player and remains the all-time winningest in college football history.
Through that historic run, Harsin said he and former Boise coach Chris Petersen recognized the prevalence of the shotgun in college football — and most recently in the NFL with 63% of regular season shots at the shotgun in 2022 — becoming the tying goal. for the shortest quarterback. That’s why Harsin said he had scoffed at any idea a defensive coach at Auburn had that they could take advantage of Young’s size.
Harsin coached against Young only once during his two-year tenure at Auburn, but he has long been a card-carrying member of his admiration community. Harsin took his son, Davis, to the 2019 high school game between Young’s Mater Dei and DJ Uiagalelei’s St. John’s Bosco club.
Harsin wanted to give his son, now a three-star recruit, a glimpse into prep football. Little did he imagine that two years later, Young would lead one of his trademark comebacks against Auburn with a tying 97-yard run, enabling Alabama to win in four overtimes.
The next day, upon watching the movie and removing the emotions, Harsin couldn’t help but admire what Young had accomplished.
“When you run back, from a purely quarterback standpoint, it was impressive,” Harsin said. “I watch him the next day and I’m like, This guy is a Heisman Trophy winner.”
Houdini’s final act by Young did not delay leadership. He decided to play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Kansas State, defying a trend of pulling away from top non-CFP prospects, and shutting out Kansas State to five touchdowns and 321 yards.
Wildcats head coach Chris Kleiman still doesn’t know how Wildcats star cornerback Julius Brents, a first-round prospect himself this week, didn’t intercept a ball that Young brilliantly dropped 32 yards to Ja’Corey Brooks on the back pylon of the end zone.
“In terms of footballing acumen and accuracy, I didn’t think there was a better midfielder this year,” Clement said. “That was the best kid we’ve played, by far. How he’d read defenses, put the ball in windows and spots.
“He was in complete control of everything.”
Young is now entering a phase of his career that he cannot control. Success variables start with a quarterback’s transition to the NFL in the front office, then filter to the coaching staff and are rooted in the system. There’s also the franchise’s patience against fan pressure and the inevitability of enduring a few years with an inferior roster.
What is certain is that the franchise will need to shape up its roster and system to accommodate Young. Scouts and NFL staff insist that he start with the blueprint and work his way up to putting together logical list pieces.
The crafting book comes with the acknowledgment that he won’t grow taller, but his height is less important than his slim frame. There have been comparisons to Russell Wilson, who also weighed in at 204 pounds in the combine. But Young isn’t as thickly built as Wilson — he probably plays at about 205 pounds in the NFL, while Wilson is listed at 215 in Denver.
“I’ve been that big, respectfully, my whole life,” Young said. “I know who I am. I know what I can do. For me, [the concerns are] justice. Everyone can speculate and ask when questions are necessary. I will continue to control what I can control.”
An NFL executive told ESPN that anyone drafting would need to “build a great wall” in front of them. This includes thick but not necessarily long pantyliners. And they will be surrounded by greater interventions.
“You have to keep the pocket steady and clear,” said the executive. “You don’t want a 6-foot-5 across the board. That’s going to be hard on him.”
Bill O’Brien, a former offensive coordinator at Alabama who was hired to the same position by the New England Patriots this offseason, has been a tough advocate for Young’s scouts. The Crimson Tide is one of the most open programs in the country for scouts, and several scouts told ESPN O’Brien enthusiastically recommended Young.
“Size doesn’t matter when you tackle the game fast,” said one scout. “The idea of him hitting balls, it’s only going to happen if he’s holding the ball and not making quick decisions.”
Young’s blossoming status in the NFL comes from Drew Brees, who stands 2 inches at 6 feet and weighs an additional nine pounds at the combine (213).
It’s likely that Young will have to work almost exclusively from the gun, one scout said, which is in line with how NFL offenses have evolved.
“It’s really Drew Brees,” said the scout. “Size doesn’t matter. He’s a pocket passer with mobility skills. You don’t play under center, you have to change your offense, as it’s going to be difficult for him to come back on 3-steps, 5-steps and 7-steps down and still see over the defences.”
One of the more interesting parts of this draft is the lack of consensus on a quarterback. Some Scouts are intrigued Anthony Richardsonother people’s attributes CJ StroudSome like physical tools Will Levis.
One veteran scout summed up his skepticism with the youngsters by suggesting that he may have relied too much on his impromptu ability: “His style is very much a dip in the field that brings out his instincts. It’s hard to see him translate into a system based on quick play. I don’t think he’s elite at predicting timing.” Early in the play. He’s more adept at sprinting then playing with the talent of his arm.”
The Panthers are expected to make a big bet as Young’s size doesn’t matter. There is a group of college coaches who become believers after seeing Young’s magic up close. Will it break NFL paradigms and convert more skeptics?
“Over the years, I’ve defended a lot of first-round quarterbacks,” Lea said. “Price certainly stands out as an elite player among those who are in the first round. He will be checked right and left, but what I saw on the field was his ability to control the game and play to his strengths, and that probably borders on his weaknesses.”