During an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take,” quarterback prospect Bryce Young responded to criticism regarding his height.
The 2023 NFL Draft is officially one week away as of Thursday, and it will all begin with the Carolina Panthers, who traded a massive haul of picks and wide receiver D.J. Moore to draft their quarterback of the future.
In recent weeks, the belief is that the Panthers will use that pick on former Heisman Trophy winner and Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young.
While he is the top quarterback prospect in this class, there is concern over his height. He was listed at 6-foot and 194 pounds at Alabama, but he measured at 5-foot-10 and 204 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine back in February.
Young made an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take” on Wednesday, and he was asked by Stephen A. Smith about criticisms over his size. The quarterback prospect provided a perfect response.
Bryce Young’s response to criticism that he’s too small to play QB at the NFL level
“At the next level, it’s about how quickly you can process at the next level, how well you can make the right decision and how well you can get the ball out of your hands…so that’s something that I pride myself in and I’m ready for that challenge at the next level,” said Young. “I’m not looking to run a bunch of people over at the next level or anything like that, but be more efficient with the ball. And again, I’m used to playing around people that are much bigger…”
Young started for two years at Alabama, competing in the SEC, which is the top conference in all of college football. As mentioned earlier, he won a Heisman Trophy while competing in the SEC, and became the first Alabama quarterback to accomplish this feat. That year, he threw for 4,872 yards, 47 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 66.9-percent of his passes.
While he did miss a brief period of time this past season due to a shoulder injury suffered against Arkansas, he bounced back and had an amazing game in Alabama’s back-and-forth contest against Tennessee.
This past season, Young recorded 3,328 yards, 32 touchdowns and five interceptions on a 64.5 completion percentage.
The buzz regarding Young going to the Panthers heightened when NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that the quarterback canceled his remaining pre-draft visits. The Panthers, meanwhile, are playing coy, with general manager Scott Fitterer saying that they haven’t told Young that they will select him with the first overall pick.
Despite concerns over his size, Young reassured those with doubts that he will be just fine playing at the next level.
