Could Alabama quarterback Bryce Young be the next Patrick Mahomes? Could any quarterback?
The 27-year-old Chiefs quarterback is only a two-time MVP, two-time Super Bowl champion, five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro just 80 games into his NFL career, after all.
ESPN analyst Todd McShay, however, believes Young is more than capable of living up to those expectations. He outlined why in a SportsCenter hit Saturday morning.
“Why would the Colts goes with Young at No. 1 as opposed to (Ohio State quarterback) C.J. Stroud, who you have going No. 2 to the Texans?" anchor Max McGee asked McShay.
“Listen, he’s undersized and I get it. He’s only five-foot-ten and a half, maybe five-foot-eleven and 195 pounds. Hopefully he gets to 200 pounds by the combine,” McShay said of Young, who was listed at six-foot and 194 pounds last season. “But he’s different.”
To McShay, Young’s superiority to Stroud and Kentucky quarterback Will Levis became apparent on film.
“When you study the tape—and I love C.J. Stroud, and I think he has a chance to be a really good player… To me, Bryce Young is a smaller version of Patrick Mahomes,” McShay said. “He’s so poised inside the pocket. He has an understanding of where pressure is coming from. He can carry your football team.”
Young won the Heisman Trophy in 2021 and finished sixth in the voting for the trophy in ’22.
“It would be unique—a sub-200 pound quarterback going on to be a star in the NFL,” McShay said. “But I would bet on him.”
