Will the Real Bryce Young Please Standup?

Things are about to get real for some Alabama and Bryce Young fanatics out there. Two Heisman trophies in a row for Young?

Not a chance.

Stats and playing for Alabama are the only things that I can see how this quarterback (QB) won the Heisman in 2021. Checking down, throwing 6-10 yard slants, and throwing drag and stop routes to top talent should not make anyone think you are the best player in the country. There was also a lack of dominant players to challenge for this coveted prize last season.

Young gets rattled

Rattled.

That is what I feel watching Young on every pass attempt.

Whenever there was a defender bearing down, I saw one of three things that usually ended in disaster:

1. He would try to extend the play with his feet.
2. He would hold the ball too long and get put on his back.
3. He would try to get rid of the ball with a rattled throw, putting his receivers, or the ball in jeopardy.

The film versus Texas (2022) was horrendous, and highlights every single point here. That film is embedded at the end of this article, and I encourage you to watch it. There is no reason in this world why Alabama should have won. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs bailed him out at every opportunity.

What traits?

He does not have any football traits, mental or otherwise, that pop from the paper or game film. The great players around him are the reason he rose to the top.

Young’s arm strength resembles the spaghetti noodles that I cooked last night for dinner.

That will not bode well on any field, any day of the week, let alone Sunday’s in the NFL.

Young’s footwork is bad. He rarely plants and fires the ball with any velocity. The ball tends to come out of his hand that isn’t anywhere close to a correct throwing motion. His feet are sometimes square to his shoulders, or he is falling off of his back foot.

Young breaks all of the unwritten rules of mechanics that exist every time he sets foot in a stadium.

The best thing I have seen him exhibit by far was the ability to look off safeties, which enabled him to throw one of those screaming[sic] slants. It was difficult to find good qualities in his game. In fact, that is the best I could come up with.

Yes, my career is in the infantile state, but Young is easily the worst QB that I have ever evaluated. This is the kind of player that caused the NFL to implement the rookie wage scale 12 years ago.

Young is a franchise killer

We all know the stories of how some quarterbacks step into the draft conversation by being fueled by the media hype machine. They get picked top-5, usually No. 1 overall. This is where draft pundits have Young being chosen. These types of prospects then sign significant contracts and 💥BOOM💥 the franchise is set back for years.

A lot of top-rated quarterbacks have shown at least some potential when they were amongst the college ranks. They had a rocket-arm, lightning-fast mobility, prototypical size (6’4” 225 pounds). Young doesn’t have any of that.

Look for Young to be added to the list of all-time busts along side JaMarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf.

The same media hype-machine that sold us Robert Griffin III being better than Andrew Luck, said to take Sam Darnold over Josh Allen, and pushed Trey Lance as the savior of the 49ers, is now doing the same with Young over C.J. Stroud. It is simply not true, and it is not even close.

Size matters

Young’s 6′ nothing, 190 pound nothing body size makes no difference. Sure, he could use a Turducken on his Thanksgiving dinner plate from the late, great John Madden, but that is not what I am talking about.

There is only one measurement that it takes to be a quality prospect in any sport and that is the size of their heart (desire to win).

I have heard the question “What happened to Young versus Georgia last year?” The answer is simple…

Heart is what happened, and Young doesn’t have it.

How Young stacks up and game film reviewed:

Un-officially: Not on my draft board
Otherwise: 7th Round-Undraftable Free Agent
NFL comparison: Johnny Manziel

Game Film Reviewed: (click to watch games viewed to form this evaluation)
Georgia, National Championship ’21
Utah State ’22
Texas ’22

The author, William Yanish, has been a football fan since he was knee high to a grasshopper. He played football until his body wouldn’t let him any longer at the tender young age of 17. He is an aspiring sports writer and author, who covers the NFL Draft for firstroundmock.com. Yanish attended Colorado Mesa University on the western slope of Colorado.