The Tennessee Titans are almost one week away from the official start of the new league year.
The team has obvious holes up and down the roster, and especially on the offensive side of the ball, where most of unit is destined for a facelift over the coming months.
The quarterback position in particular is a polarizing topic of conversation among Titans fans.
A large portion of the fanbase would love to see the team take advantage of a potent quarterback class by getting a young signal-caller at the top of the draft to start building around.
This article is going to break down one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft, Alabama’s Bryce Young.
In fact, from now up until draft weekend, I will be releasing several in-depth prospect profiles where I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of several potential players that Tennessee could/should be interested in.
Keep in mind that all of the grades and individual rankings that are included are my own opinion after spending the last few months studying each of these individuals.
Without further ado, let’s dive right into the first prospect profile of the draft season with one of the top quarterbacks in this year’s class.
College accolades
- National Champion (2020)
- Heisman Award (2021)
- Maxwell Award (2021)
- Davey O’Brien Award (2021)
- Manning Award (2021)
- Consensus All-American (2021)
- SEC Offensive Player of the Year (2021)
- Second-Team All-SEC (2022)
- Sugar Bowl MVP (2022)
2022 stats
- Passing Yards: 3,328
- Passing Touchdowns: 32
- Total Touchdowns: 36
- Interceptions: 5
- Turnover-Worthy Play percentage: 2.0
- Big-Time Throw percentage: 5.7
- Adjusted-Completion percentage: 77.4
Combine measurables
- Height: 5’10”
- Weight: 204 Pounds
- Hand Size: 9 ¾
- Arm length: 30 1/2″
- 40-time: N/A
- RAS: N/A
Note: Bryce Young only participated in the measurements portion of the combine and won’t work out until the Alabama Pro Day on March 23.
Grade, projection, and rankings
- Overall Grade: 94.3 (blue-chip prospect)
- Ceiling Projection: No. 1 Pick
- Floor Projection: Top five Pick
- Position Rank: No. 1
- Consensus Rank: No. 1
Bryce Young’s strengths
Absolutely#Titans https://t.co/coUgfkRVMu pic.twitter.com/eDnO8KshWv
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) February 3, 2023
- A Cerebral assassin that beats you both pre-and-post snap.
- Plays the chess match of the position at an extremely high level (accurately identifies coverages, changes protections, audibles, manipulates defenders, identifies mismatches, etc.).
- Poised, confident, and clutch playmaker with both his arm and his legs.
- Ridiculously fast processor for his age, and that will only improve with the more experience he gets.
- Rare ability to improvise – no play is dead with him at QB.
- All-around fundamentally-sound QB with a high floor.
- Accurate and anticipatory passer on all three levels.
Bryce Young’s areas of concern
- A true anomaly at the position.
- Valid concerns as to whether his body will hold up throughout a 17- to 21-game season.
- Only possesses slightly above-average arm strength.
- Tends to drift deep into his drops to overcompensate for his size, putting the offense at risk of unnecessary lost yardage when he gets caught in the backfield.
- Sometimes he instinctively tries to make a play at all costs, which, unfortunately, comes at the expense of his receivers at times.
- Occasionally late on timing routes.
- Will have to prove that he is capable of attacking the middle of the field at the NFL level.
Clips and conclusion
In my honest opinion, Bryce Young is one of the most disrespected prospects in quite some time.
If he was just two or three inches taller, there wouldn’t be any major question marks surrounding his game. The fact that some are willing to throw out his entire tape for a few inches is absurd.
There is no denying that his stature is worrisome, especially considering he will now have to play anywhere from 17-21 games in a single NFL season.
However, he is equipped to overcome it with his dynamic athleticism, rapid processing skills and creative playmaking abilities that will surely give him a chance to compete against anybody at the next level.
Yes, bigger quarterbacks may be better equipped to survive the kill shots, but Young is much better suited to avoid them altogether. It’s not easy to get a clean shot on this guy, and the times that Young does get hit, he always gets back up and emphatically punches back.
Truthfully, there isn’t a time that you watch Young where he isn’t in total command of everything going on around him. No, he’s not perfect, as he occasionally makes mistakes and misses a throw because he is human.
But more often than not, he seems to make the right play, ensuring that his mistakes are few and far between.
The Alabama product always has a plan of attack, and if he doesn’t like the one that’s currently in place, he’s more than capable of changing the play at the line in order to get his guys in the right position to succeed.
Also, we all saw the success he had in 2021 when he was surrounded by elite talent, but last season we got to see him elevate an entire team around him.
One of the biggest false narratives surrounding the former Heisman-winning quarterback is that he had all the help in the world at Alabama.
To be clear, by no means was he playing with scrubs in 2022, but Young certainly didn’t have the crop of talent that Crimson Tide quarterbacks are often used to.
Young’s most recent tape is riddled with drops and pressure that he seemingly always overcame.
Even when his guys let him down, he hardly gets phased by it and simply moves on to the next opportunity at hand.
The former SEC Offensive Player of the Year has the potential to become a bona fide franchise quarterback for one lucky team.
If the Bears are in fact willing to leave the top 10, the Titans should strongly consider doing whatever it takes to land someone who genuinely could become the next great young quarterback in the NFL.
Should Tennessee decide to go that route, it could be a true game-changer for the franchise for years to come.
