Former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young has raised eyebrows because of what he didn’t do at his pro day.
As shared by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Young declined to weigh in before he began his throwing session:
Per Eric Edholm of the NFL’s website, Young measured in at 5-foot-10 1/8 and 204 pounds at the combine earlier this month. Interestingly, it was reported back in February that the future first-round draft pick was working to add positive weight so that he could get to at least 200 pounds before the combine.
The Sports-Reference website shows that Young was listed at 6-foot-0 and 194 pounds while playing for Alabama. It’s widely thought both of those figures were quite generous to the future pro.
Young’s lack of size as it pertains to playing the most important single position in all of pro sports has been the biggest concern hovering over his draft status since well before he completed his final college game. Back in late February, ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay admitted he’d be “scared to death of drafting” Young because of the signal-caller’s size even though McShay views the Alabama product as a smaller version of Kansas City Chiefs starter Patrick Mahomes.
In his piece, Florio alluded to the numerous injuries Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has dealt with since his college days. Most recently, Tagovailoa suffered at least two known concussions this past NFL season and spent over a month in the concussion protocol. Nevertheless, Miami elected to pick up the fifth-year option attached to his rookie contract which guarantees him roughly $23.2M for 2024.
The NFL website lists Tagovailoa at 6-foot-1 and 217 pounds.
As of Thursday afternoon, OddsChecker had Young at second among the favorites to be the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft at +350. C.J. Stroud of the Ohio State Buckeyes was the betting favorite at -250.
In a mock draft updated on Tuesday, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had Stroud going to the Carolina Panthers via the first-overall pick. Kiper predicted the Houston Texans will grab Young with selection No. 2.
“Whatever Young currently weighs, he fears the number is low enough that it will hurt his final draft position,” Florio noted.
