Former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young will likely go off the board to the Carolina Panthers with the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday.
This wasn’t always the case with pre-draft concerns over Young’s smallish 5-foot-10 frame for a quarterback. It made waves during the NFL Scouting Combine earlier in the offseason and initially threatened to drop Young down the board some leading up to the event.
In talking about concerns over his height, the 2021 Heisman winner had a hilarious take. It was short and sweet (no pun intended).
“I can’t grow,” Young said.
Barring a late growth spurt, Young is not wrong. It is rather interesting that he’s still answering these questions given the fact that he’s 5-foot-10. We knew he was 5-foot-10 early in the draft process.
What difference is this going to make with roughly 24 hours to go before he’s taken No. 1 overall by the Panthers?
Bryce Young college stats: 66% completion, 8,356 passing yards, 80 TD, 12 INT
If Young was able to perform at this level against SEC-level competition, there is very little reason to believe it will not be able to translate to the pro game. Outside of that, height did not seem to be an issue as he threw from the pocket during a brilliant collegiate career with the Crimson Tide.
Related: Bryce Young NFL Draft profile and scouting report
There are real concerns over Young’s arm strength and mechanics. These are two areas that teams have not glossed over. One can be fixed (mechanics), the other can’t (arm strength).
What we do know is that the 2023 NFL Draft class at quarterback has come under scrutiny a ton recently. Despite this, Bryce Young will hear his name called first once things get going Thursday evening from Kansas City. At that point, it will be all about the former five-star recruit proving naysayers wrong.