2023 NFL Draft: Is Bryce Young the best quarterback in the draft despite his size concerns?

The 2023 NFL Draft quarterback class is going to present general managers at the beginning of the first round with an interesting dilemma. The top of the quarterback depth chart features a pair of passers who are both worthy of the top pick. Alabama’s Bryce Young is widely regarded as the best quarterback in the draft, with great football IQ, accuracy, anticipation, and arm strength. However, he is also very undersized for an NFL passer, and other teams might prefer Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud due to his more prototypical frame – and he’s a talented passer in his own right.

Young’s size presents an element of risk with which teams will need to reckon. He has a number of traits in common with some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. However, some teams place heavy value on their size thresholds, and there will certainly be concerns regarding whether or not Young is too small to play quarterback in the NFL.

Is Young the best quarterback in the draft despite his size concerns?

The Carolina Panthers selected Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. For full coverage of the Bryce Young pick, head over to Cat Scratch Reader.

Bryce Young is a talented passer who does almost everything well with the ball in his hands. He has efficient mechanics and a crisp throwing motion, which allows him to throw with good accuracy to all levels of the field. He’s careful to align his feet with his target and is easily able to generate power from the ground up. He’s also a quick and agile athlete and is able to throw accurately off-platform and on the move. Young’s athleticism also allows him to navigate the pocket and avoid pressure while keeping his eyes downfield.

His football IQ is his greatest strength and is the foundation of everything else he does as a quarterback. Young has full command of the Alabama offense, is able to quickly and accurately diagnose defenses, and is able to throw with anticipation. He keeps his eyes downfield throughout the play and has a good understanding of how to use his eyes and body language to manipulate defenders. Young is able to tuck the ball and pick up yardage as a ball carrier, but he is much more of a “run to pass” quarterback (similar to Russell Wilson) who extends plays and only becomes a runner as a last resort.

His main strengths are football IQ, anticipation, timing touch and accuracy, arm talent, athleticism, and competitiveness.

There are very few weaknesses in Bryce Young’s game. Unfortunately, his single biggest flaw is one he can’t do anything about. Young is short for an NFL player at any position and about six inches below the average size for a quarterback. At times, that forces him to rely on his anticipation as a passer, as well as his agility to navigate the pocket and find lines of sight between offensive linemen.

There are also going to be concerns that his slight frame will make him prone to injury going against NFL defenders.

Young will need to be a more conscientious decision-maker when scrambling and running if the play breaks down. He can be too willing to take on contact as a runner, and that can lead to unnecessary hits outside the protection of the pocket. Young will need to make smarter decisions as to when to get down and avoid taking hits in the open field.

Here’s what an anonymous coach said to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman about Young:

“I don’t think people give him enough credit for his feet. He doesn’t look like he’s running real fast, but he is. He’s also so damn accurate on the move. I was really impressed with how well he understands where to go with the ball, if you gave him any tip or tell of what you were doing, pressure-wise. If you do, he’d kill you. In our game, there’s no way he knew it was coming; our safety wasn’t even off the hash. There was nothing to tip him off. Nothing that said throw it out there. We hit pretty hard eight or nine times. I thought he did a really good job of handling that. He slid protection really good. I Zero-ed (blitzed) him a bunch, thinking, f— it. Let’s hit this quarterback as many times as I can. But he did such a great job of seeing it at the snap, especially for being such a young guy in terms of snaps played.”

There is a lot to like about Bryce Young, but his size is always going to stick out for some people. There are many evaluators who knowingly – or unknowingly – pass prospects through a height/weight/speed filter at the very start of their evaluations. If Young were 6’3 and 220 pounds and nothing else about his game changed, he’d probably be regarded as the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck. But he isn’t. He’s 5’10, 204 pounds, and that will influence how some scouts and GMs feel about him.

But leaving his size aside, Young’s upside is immense. He already shows a veteran’s understanding of offensive and defensive concepts, has the ability to pick a defense apart from the pocket, and he can win playing backyard football if the play breaks down.

He has the potential to be a true franchise quarterback and a Pro Bowl player, but isn’t without his risk.