I think everyone knows who this guy is.
Here is what the rising junior, Bryce Young, won last year:
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Heisman Trophy
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Maxwell, Davey O’Brien, and Manning Awards
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Associated Press CFB Player of the Year
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Consensus All-American
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SEC Offensive Player of the Year
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SEC Championship MVP
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1st team All-SEC
And he did all of that as a first-year starter. He has the opportunity to do it again in 2022 along with being the potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Let’s get something out of the way which I know is already a big concern with Young: his size and stature. He’s not the biggest quarterback by any means. When and if Young enters the NFL Draft next offseason, he will have questions to answer as to whether or not he can take care of his body at the next level.
He’s 5’11, 194 lbs., which isn’t anywhere close to the prototypical size of an NFL QB. However, we’ve seen guys like Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, and Kyler Murray all succeed at a high level and all three of them came into the league with size concerns. With how Young plays, I don’t believe it will be a huge issue until it becomes one.
A couple of other concerns I have with Young are that he needs to learn to take what’s in front of him more, show the willingness to run in certain situations, and clean up his lower body mechanics when things get ugly around him.
Now, let’s talk about the things Young does well. For a first-year starter and with the amount of talent he possesses, Young shows an absurd amount of confidence and poise within the structure of the pocket and outside the confines of said pocket.
The only times I’ve seen Young truly fazed was maybe the National Championship against THAT Georgia defense (who wouldn’t be?). Even so, when he was to make any sort of mistake, he’d move on to the next play or series and correct that mistake. For someone who will be my age– 21– in a few months, it’s almost like Young is a 15-year veteran in the NFL.
Young is wickedly accurate on all levels of the field. He offers good tempo in his throws and puts the ball where he wants it to go and where it needs to go. His upper and lower body mechanics are really good, as he shows a quick release, hip torque, and clean footwork.
When playing out-of-structure, Young’s accuracy rarely fails him and offers a difficult challenge to opposing defenses. When forced out of the pocket, Young shows good mobility and IQ as a runner with adequate quickness.
