With Bryce Young, I like that he’s shown he can play well against strong opposition. Almost all quarterbacks drafted in the first round have put up pinball numbers in college, but Young has done it in big games against the best defenses in the SEC – the most NFL-like level of competition.
In Young’s two seasons starting at Alabama, he played six games against top-10 opponents. That includes a pair against Georgia, with one of the best defenses in the history of the college game.
Young went only 3-3 in his six games against top-10 opponents. Nothing too special about that number. He also completed only 60 percent of his passes, which a little less than you might expect. But the numbers otherwise are outstanding. He averaged 346 passing yards in those games, with 15 touchdowns versus 4 interceptions, and with his offenses averaging 35 points.
Young passed for over 320 yards, with his offense scoring at least 32 points, in all but one of those games. (When Alabama beat Cincinnati in 2021, it methodically ground out a 27-6 win, with Young passing for only 181 yards.) But he can move an offense (and he was not passing to a fleet of first-round receivers last year).
| BRYCE YOUNG AGAINST TOP-10 OPPONENTS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Result | Com | Att | Yds | TD | Int |
| 2021 | 1 Ga. | W 41-24 | 26 | 44 | 421 | 3 | 0 |
| 2021 | 4 Cin. | W 27-6 | 17 | 28 | 181 | 3 | 1 |
| 2021 | 3 Ga. | L 33-18 | 35 | 57 | 369 | 1 | 2 |
| 2022 | 6 Ten. | L 52-49 | 35 | 52 | 455 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | 10 LSU | L 32-31 | 25 | 51 | 328 | 1 | 1 |
| 2022 | 9 KSU | W 45-20 | 15 | 21 | 321 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | . | 3-3 W-L | 25.5 | 42.1 | 345.8 | 2.5 | .7 |
The numbers in other games don’t interest me as much. I don’t think it’s as meaningful when you’re looking at routs against opponents who are at the disadvantage of playing at far lesser talent at most positions. But we can trot them out for those who are curious.
Young in his other seven games against ranked teams (teams ranked outside the top 10 but in the top 25) averaged 289 passing yards, with 20 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He completed 68 percent of his passes in those games.
Young in his 14 games against unranked opponents averaged 294 passing yards, with 44 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He also completed 68 percent in those games.
Odd that Young averaged over 50 more yards against top-10 opponents than he did in his other college starts. Anthony Richardson has the freaky physical skills, with the potential of maybe having a game with some similarities to Jalen Hurts, Cam Newton or Justin Fields. Running quarterbacks tend to grade out well for fantasy purposes. But as far as operating from the pocket and distributing the ball, Young looks like a much better quarterback right now.
—Ian Allan