Bryce Young – Quarterback – 21 – Junior – Alabama
Size : 1.78m
Weight : 92kg
Estimated draft position: top 4
Stats 2022: 245-380 (64.5%), 3,328 yards, 32 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 49 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns
NFL Comparison: Johnny Manziel/Tony Romo miniature
Five-star player and No. 1 quarterback in the United States out of high school, Bryce Young is one of those whose time in university has not changed their reputation. Except that, three years later, his is even more brilliant. First replacing Mac Jones, he threw for 4,872 yards and 47 touchdowns in his first season, becoming the first quarterback from Alabama to win the Heisman Trophy, with the university championship as a bonus. Just that.
His 2022 campaign, more laborious on the collective level, saw him evolve to the same standards of excellence, amassing 3,328 yards and 32 touchdowns in the air and four on the ground, in 12 games. All this, despite the departure in the NFL of its two preferential targets, Jameson Williams and John Metchie III.
Strong points
– Accuracy
– Soccer IQ
– improvisation
–Leadership
– Calme
Twelve interceptions in 950 attempted passes, or one interception for every 79 passes. Bryce’s interception rate at Alabama (1.26%) is lower than that of Aaron Rodgers’ career (1.37%), an all-time NFL record. The ratio of his college career is insane and doesn’t even do full justice to the accuracy of his shots, whether short, intermediate or long. With a touch silkier than silk itself, it manages to hit its intended targets with bewildering ease.
Because in addition to being precise, he is intelligent. Changes in protection, identification of covers, manipulation of defenders… Young understands football faster than these congeners. This allows him to punish the slightest deviation and launch with anticipation, even before the receivers are open. And when they are only half, please refer to the previous paragraph.
The tight shot gives you an idea of just how impressive Bryce Young’s fourth TD pass against Kansas State was. pic.twitter.com/20xhvSwhPc
—Jordan Reid (@Jordan_Reid) January 2, 2023
His arm is not very powerful, but he manages to generate enough velocity in his passes to deliver the balls where he wants. His throwing gesture is fluid and fast, which allows him to throw in awkward positions, especially in motion, without the pass becoming floating.
Bryce Young also has this little something magical, this feeling that he has a pair of eyes in his back and sees the pressure coming from all corners of the field. More than seeing her, he manages to avoid her more often than he should be allowed to. His ability to evade, suddenly accelerate and improvise significantly increase the lifespan of games. A nightmare for any defense. Especially since, if necessaryhis top speed is well above average for the position.
If Alabama’s 2022 season was less peaceful than usual, it will have had the merit of bringing to light Young’s leadership qualities, captain respected even when the ship was rocking, calm and inveterate leader when his team was led. at the end of the game.
His ability to remain calm is also visible when his pouch collapses and contact occurs. He doesn’t panic and don’t retreat.
Weak points
– Size
– Size
– Size
If Bryce Young was 1.88m instead of 1.78m and weighed 102kg instead of 92kg, the Bears would have traded Justin Fields instead of their 1st draft pick. And rightly so. Fields’ fan club president writes it. We would talk about him in the same vein that we talk about Andrew Luck and Trevor Lawrence, which is to say as one of the best prospects of all time.
But Bryce Young is 1.78m tall and weighs 92kg. Its weight is, moreover, very generous and certainly the result of a force-feeding of proteins to make a Périgord duck sick, before getting on the scale. Considering what should be his ideal weight, he will undoubtedly be the first quarterback under 200 pounds (90.7 kg) selected in the first round of the draft since Jim McMahon in 1982.
A bar that is as symbolic as it is significant. Sonny Jurgensen, Billy Kilmer, Michael Vick, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa… Most quarterbacks more or less the same height as Bryce Young, and having had the slightest success among professionals, easily exceed 200 books. A few exceptions exist: Doug Flutie and Jim McMahon, whose said success remains relative; Eddie LeBaron, Len Dawson, Fran Tarkenton and Joe Theismann, all of whom retired before 1985.
In other words, no quarterback as light as Young has really succeeded in the league for almost 40 years. On the scale of the modern NFL, he would be small and frail even if he played cornerback. For a quarterback, he’s tiny. A deficit of height and weight which inevitably increases the risk of injury.
In the game, he tends to pull back deeper to see what’s going on beyond his offensive line. Nothing more normal, all the little quarterbacks do it. At the highest level, against faster and more powerful defenders, behind an offensive line less reliable than Alabama’s at the college level, the sacks could be more numerous and the losses of ground greater.
Is Bryce Young doomed to injury or failure in the NFL by the lack of contemporary precedent? No, obviously. And if we were to bet on a player capable of breaking the standards, he would be the perfect candidate. However, the odds are not in his favor.
Possible destinations
Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts
That being said, talent is intoxicating. If a franchise invests as much in protecting Young as in Young himself, seeing him become one of the faces of the league would not be surprising, far from it. The shoulder injury that sidelined him this season is a concern, but not big enough to see him drop past the fourth pick. One of the first three teams in the quarterback bay, will try its luck: Bryce Young will be a Panther, a Texan or a Colt.
