Bryce Young doesn’t know what he will measure at NFL combine
Bryce Young was masterfully able to escape all sorts of pressure from defenses during his two seasons as Alabama’s starter.
But after declaring Monday for the 2023 NFL draft, Young will be able to run from questions about his size.
As a potential No. 1 overall pick in April, Young’s height will be thoroughly dissected, debated and analyzed over the next three-plus months in NFL draft rooms and on national television.
Listed at 6-feet tall and 194 pounds by Alabama, the junior quarterback was not tipping his hand Monday about what he expects to measure at the NFL combine, which will be held in Indianapolis from Feb. 28 through March 6.
“That’s a good question,” he said with a laugh. “I guess we’ll see.”
Young did not yet know how much he would participate in the combine drills, which top quarterbacks sometimes skip to let their film speak for itself.
There are few comparisons at the NFL level for Young’s combination of size and style of play. He is taller than fellow Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, who is 5-foot-10, but runs much less frequently than Murray did at Oklahoma or has done for the Arizona Cardinals. Young operated mostly as a pocket passer at Alabama with impressive elusive ability, but he almost never took the ball on designed runs and rarely took off scrambling past the line of scrimmage.
Even so, Young’s poise under pressure, accuracy and performance in key moments of SEC games have earned him plenty of attention as perhaps the best quarterback in the draft. If Young is selected first overall, it would be the first time Alabama has seen one of its players chosen at the top of the draft since Harry Gilmer in 1948.
“Hopefully my work on the field speaks for itself,” Young said Monday. “For me, I can control what I can control. I know throughout this process, I’m going to be pushing myself, day in and day out, to get myself to become the best version of myself for whatever franchise is taking me. I’m going to give my everything. I’m going to give my all from Day 1. This means everything to me.
“I can control what I can control. What other people’s perceptions [are] of me or anyone else — I can’t control that. But I know what I can bring to the table.”
Young, though, recognized the coming weeks and months of being under the draft spotlight will be uncharted territory for him.
“I haven’t done this process before,” he said. “This is the first time that, I guess, everything starts. I’m still new to everything.”
Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.