Bryce Young Scouting Report and NFL Draft Profile

 

 

Bryce Young Scouting Report: Alabama, QB

 

 

2023 NFL Draft Measurements

40-Yard Dash: 4.5 (estimate)

6‘0“ / 194 lbs.

 

Bryce Young Draft Profile

I know why you’re here. You want to read about this guy that had over $800,000 in NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals before ever stepping on the field as a starting quarterback. Oh, no? That’s not what you want? Oh you want the Bryce Young scouting report for the 2023 NFL Draft… got it!

Well what if I told you that we was considered the nation’s top-ranked dual-threat quarterback by all the major scouting outlets coming out of Mater Dei High School? And that everyone said he was a 5-star prospect? Then, of course, it wouldn’t surprise you that he was selected as the 2019 High School Quarterback of the Year, Maxwell Offensive Player of the Year, and MaxPreps Player of the Year. While he had plenty of offers, including USC, Ohio State, and Oklahoma, ultimately Bryce signed with Alabama.

He spent the 2020 season backing up future first round pick Mac Jones, getting playing time in nine games. Young would earn the starting job the following season, on his way to setting an Alabama single-season records in passing yards (4,872) and touchdowns (47) and winning the Heisman Trophy. After only his second season as the starter, Bryce ranks second in Alabama history in passing yards (8,356) and touchdowns (80).

But none of this is a surprise by now. So, why don’t we finally get into the real reason why everyone is here. Let’s talk about what makes Bryce Young one of the best prospects in this year’s NFL Draft.

 

Strengths

 

Passer not Thrower

Bruce Arians has a great quote in his book The Quarterback Whisper when talking about quarterbacks. He talks about a thrower being someone that can get the ball to the receiver AFTER they’ve become open. A passer, on the other hand, can read the coverage and anticipate the receiver coming open. This is how I see Bryce. He doesn’t have to see the wide receiver running all by themselves before releasing the ball. He does a great job of reading, and manipulating, the coverage and anticipating the receiver coming open and delivering the ball.

 

Navigating the Pocket

Bryce Young isn’t a big quarterback. And surprisingly I didn’t watch that much of Alabama football this past season. Because of this, I honestly had the expectation coming into my film study of the gameplan being to roll him out of the pocket consistently. That wasn’t the case. I would even say that Young looked better passing from the pocket than he did on the run. A big reason for this success is the fact that he moves in the pocket so well. He’s not the type to run at the slightest bit of pressure. Instead, he calmly navigates traffic, all while keeping his eyes downfield waiting for a receiver to come open.

 

Takes What’s Given

I think this might be one of the most helpful, and underrated, traits for Bryce when heading into the NFL. Rarely does he force a throw where it shouldn’t go. Sure, he’s not perfect. I already know that there’s an LSU fan bringing up a throw into double coverage. Like I said, “rarely”. More often than not, Young is going to go through his progressions. If nothing is open down the field, he’s going to check it down and take a five, six, or seven yard gain and move onto the next play.

 

Athleticism

As I mentioned above, Bryce seemed more comfortable (in my opinion) passing from the pocket rather than on the run. Which I thought was strange, not only because of his size, but because he’s pretty athletic. I wouldn’t ever expect him to bust out a run like we see Lamar Jackson do from time to time, but he’s fast enough to be dangerous with his legs if defenses aren’t careful. This also plays a big part in his ability to move around the pocket. I still think back to the Texas game from this past season. Texas had a free blitzer come off the edge and had what should have been an easy sack. Bryce was able to bend his body, avoid the defender, stay on his feet and escape, and then delivered a nice pass on the move.

 

Weaknesses

 

Dealing with Pressure

This was my biggest issue that I had with Bryce. Anytime that he had pressure in his face, or even sometime when he believed he had less time than he did, he would throw off his back foot. More often than not, this would cause the pass to sail high. This didn’t turn into too big of an issue during his time at Alabama, as he only had 12 interceptions in the two full seasons that he played. But this is something to keep in mind at the NFL level. The windows in the NFL are going to be much tighter. Instead of it harmlessly falling to the ground, like it did in college, you might start seeing more of them in the hands of the opposing team’s defensive backs. Just ask Baker Mayfield.

 

Arm Strength

Let me just get this out of the way, Bryce can deliver the ball to any part of the field that he needs to. However, he’s not going to be a guy that can be late on a deep go route and still be able hit the receiver in stride. Young, especially on deeper throws, depends on timing. Is this going to be a deal breaker for NFL teams? Of course not. But it’s still something that has to be taken into consideration depending on the team potentially selecting him. For teams like Houston or Indianapolis, that play in a dome, it’s probably not a big concern. A team like Chicago, who have been rumored to possibly be in the QB market and play in cold winter weather, might want to take it into a little more consideration.

 

Bryce Young Draft Stock

At the beginning of the season most people had it as a toss-up between Young, CJ Stroud, and Will Levis as to who the best quarterback was in this class. Not surprisingly, Young has kept himself in that conversation through his solid play this year. If you go to NFL Mock Draft Database, you’ll be hard press to see a mock that doesn’t have him as the first quarterback taken.

 

Final Thoughts on Bryce Young

I was hoping that after watching Bryce Young that I could finally come to a concrete conclusion on who my #1 quarterback for the class was between himself and CJ Stroud. For me, I didn’t see much growth from Young throughout the season. Of course, he was already a well-polished prospect coming into the year. Stroud on the other hand has made some noticeable improvements to his game. While it’s not concrete, I do think at this point and time, I’m still going to give a slight edge to Young. For me it all comes down to him being a bit more pro ready.

 

Bryce Young Player Comparison

Russell Wilson (QB – Denver Broncos)

 

Bryce Young Scouting Report Analyst – Brandon Claburn