Factoid

March 27, 2023

Bryce Young

Small size the big concern

So Bryce Young will be a top 2 pick in next month's draft; maybe No. 1 to Carolina, probably No. 2 to Houston if not. He definitely isn't getting by the Colts at No. 4. The 2021 Heisman winner would probably be a slam-dunk No. 1. If he were bigger.

At the combine, Young measured in at 5-foot-10 and 204 pounds. At Alabama, he was listed at 6-0 (clearly inaccurate, he probably hasn't gotten shorter in the past year) and 194 pounds, which is more likely close to what his playing weight will be. (I saw a story last month where a scout said even 194 pounds was probably well above what he actually weighed. But we'll go with the combine numbers, which would still make him the smallest quarterback -- both height and weight -- selected in the first round this century.

Table shows final year of college numbers for all the first-round quarterback selections since 2000, with height and weight for each player listed. Sorted by weight. The four quarterbacks expected to be drafted in the first round this year are included.

FIRST-ROUND QUARTERBACKS, 2000-PRESENT
Year	Pk	Player	School	Pass	TD	Run	TD	Ht	Wt
2007	1	JaMarcus Russell	Louisiana State	3129	28	142	1	6.05	265
2011	1	Cam Newton	Auburn	2854	30	1473	20	6.05	248
2009	17	Josh Freeman	Kansas State	2945	20	404	14	6.06	248
2023	?	Anthony Richardson	Florida	2549	17	654	9	6.04	244
2016	26	Paxton Lynch	Memphis	3776	28	239	2	6.07	244
2004	11	Ben Roethlisberger	Miami (Ohio)	4486	37	111	3	6.05	241
2003	7	Byron Leftwich	Marshall	4268	30	-1	3	6.05	241
2018	7	Josh Allen	Wyoming	1812	16	204	5	6.05	237
2016	2	Carson Wentz	North Dakota State	1651	17	294	6	6.05	237
2013	16	EJ Manuel	Florida State	3397	23	310	4	6.05	237
2020	6	Justin Herbert	Oregon	3471	32	50	4	6.06	236
2010	1	Sam Bradford	Oklahoma	562	2	-18	0	6.04	236
2010	25	Tim Tebow	Florida	2895	21	910	14	6.03	236
2008	18	Joe Flacco	Delaware	4263	23	22	4	6.06	236
2012	1	Andrew Luck	Stanford	3517	37	150	2	6.04	234
2011	10	Blaine Gabbert	Missouri	3186	16	232	5	6.04	234
2003	19	Kyle Boller	California	2815	28	-83	3	6.03	234
2014	3	Blake Bortles	Central Florida	3581	25	272	6	6.05	232
2007	22	Brady Quinn	Notre Dame	3426	37	71	2	6.04	232
2003	1	Carson Palmer	Southern California	3942	33	-122	4	6.05	232
2019	15	Dwayne Haskins	Ohio State	4831	50	108	4	6.03	231
2015	1	Jameis Winston	Florida State	3907	25	65	3	6.04	231
2011	8	Jake Locker	Washington	2265	17	385	6	6.02	231
2005	25	Jason Campbell	Auburn	2700	20	30	3	6.05	230
2023	?	Will Levis	Kentucky	2406	19	-107	2	6.04	229
2011	12	Christian Ponder	Florida State	2044	20	180	4	6.02	229
2006	3	Vince Young	Texas	3036	26	1050	12	6.05	229
2004	4	Philip Rivers	North Carolina State	4491	34	109	3	6.05	229
2000	18	Chad Pennington	Marshall	4006	38	93	2	6.03	229
2021	10	Justin Fields	Ohio State	2100	22	383	5	6.03	228
2008	3	Matt Ryan	Boston College	4507	31	2	2	6.05	228
2009	5	Mark Sanchez	Southern California	3207	34	16	3	6.02	227
2021	3	Trey Lance	North Dakota State	2786	28	1100	14	6.04	226
2018	10	Josh Rosen	UCLA	3756	26	-97	2	6.04	226
2006	11	Jay Cutler	Vanderbilt	3073	21	215	1	6.03	226
2017	10	Patrick Mahomes	Texas Tech	5052	41	285	12	6.02	225
2009	1	Matthew Stafford	Georgia	3459	25	40	1	6.02	225
2020	26	Jordan Love	Utah State	3402	20	175	0	6.04	224
2004	22	J.P. Losman	Tulane	3077	33	80	2	6.02	224
2012	2	Robert Griffin III	Baylor	4293	37	699	10	6.02	223
2006	10	Matt Leinart	Southern California	3815	28	36	6	6.05	223
2005	24	Aaron Rodgers	California	2566	24	126	3	6.02	223
2002	1	David Carr	Fresno State	4299	42	97	5	6.03	223
2017	2	Mitchell Trubisky	North Carolina	3748	30	308	5	6.02	222
2015	2	Marcus Mariota	Oregon	4454	42	770	15	6.04	222
2020	1	Joe Burrow	Louisiana State	5671	60	368	5	6.03	221
2019	6	Daniel Jones	Duke	2674	22	325	3	6.05	221
2018	3	Sam Darnold	Southern California	4143	26	82	5	6.03	221
2017	12	Deshaun Watson	Clemson	4593	41	629	9	6.02	221
2012	8	Ryan Tannehill	Texas A&M	3744	29	306	4	6.04	221
2012	22	Brandon Weeden	Oklahoma State	4727	37	-102	1	6.03	221
2004	1	Eli Manning	Mississippi	3600	29	-28	3	6.05	221
2002	32	Patrick Ramsey	Tulane	2935	22	-115	1	6.02	219
2022	20	Kenny Pickett	Pittsburgh	4319	42	233	5	6.03	217
2021	15	Mac Jones	Alabama	4500	41	14	1	6.03	217
2020	5	Tua Tagovailoa	Alabama	2840	33	17	2	6.00	217
2005	1	Alex Smith	Utah	2952	32	631	10	6.04	217
2003	22	Rex Grossman	Florida	3402	22	-65	1	6.01	217
2018	32	Lamar Jackson	Louisville	3660	27	1601	18	6.02	216
2018	1	Baker Mayfield	Oklahoma	4627	43	311	5	6.01	215
2016	1	Jared Goff	California	4719	43	-8	0	6.04	215
2002	3	Joey Harrington	Oregon	2415	23	56	7	6.04	215
2023	?	C.J. Stroud	Ohio State	3688	41	108	0	6.03	214
2021	2	Zach Wilson	Brigham Young	3692	33	254	10	6.02	214
2014	32	Teddy Bridgewater	Louisville	3970	31	78	1	6.02	214
2021	1	Trevor Lawrence	Clemson	3153	24	203	8	6.06	213
2001	1	Michael Vick	Virginia Tech	1234	8	617	8	6.00	210
2019	1	Kyler Murray	Oklahoma	4361	42	1001	12	5.10	207
2014	22	Johnny Manziel	Texas A&M	4114	37	759	9	6.00	207
2023	?	Bryce Young	Alabama	3328	32	185	4	5.10	204

Kyler Murray also measured in at 5-foot-10, and he's generally been a success thus far. Coming to a team that picked first overall the year he was drafted and is still sorting out the rest of the roster and head coaching situation, he's been to two Pro Bowls and had 8-8 and 9-5 seasons in years 2 and 3. Last year he was hurt for six games and the team went 4-13, but I think Murray has shown he can play in the NFL. Murray's listed weight of 207 looks a little more legit than Young's 204, but they're in the same ballpark.

Note that the two most successful quarterbacks in that size range, Murray and Michael Vick, are different kinds of quarterbacks -- they ran a lot in college, and also in the pros. Lots of the smaller quarterbacks did. Young is athletic but running isn't a big part of his game. He didn't run at all in 2021, and not much (15 yards per game) last year.

Looking at the table, you can argue that quarterbacks being really big (like Florida's Anthony Richardson) isn't a great thing either. Several flops at that size, most notably JaMarcus Russell but also Josh Freeman and Paxton Lynch (although those latter guys were late first-rounders). Cam Newton, Ben Roethlisberger and Josh Allen turned out OK.

At the moment, I'm expecting Carolina to select C.J. Stroud. Size is a factor, and seems like something that new Panthers head coach Frank Reich and quarterback coach Josh McCown will be taking into consideration. I've heard their talk that they're happy with a couple of different quarterbacks, but I'm not buying it -- they know who they're taking.

--Andy Richardson

Bryce Young C.J. Stroud

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