NFL Draft: We’re making way too big of a deal about Bryce Young’s height

NFL Draft scouts are dissecting Bryce Young’s height like there is no tomorrow on this earth.

If an NFL team desperately needing a quarterback passes on Bryce Young because of his height, that franchise deserves to suffer the consequences of not actually being able to evaluate talent.

The NFL Scouting Combine is happening in Indianapolis this week, which means three things will occur. Players will be measured in every manner possible. They will be asked weird questions in a dark room. And those who aren’t running in glorified underwear will eat their weight in shrimp cocktail. It’s just par for the course, but here we are falling to pieces over Young being 6-feet or so.

He is officially listed at 6-feet and 194 pounds, but is probably closer to 5-foot-10.5. ESPN’s Todd McShay found the time in between not apologizing for disparaging comments about Jalen Carter’s character to say that Young would like to get up to 210 pounds with the help of a nutritionist. Either way, we are working ourselves up into a lather by dissecting Young’s NFL size and frame.

“If I’m a GM, I’m scared to death of drafting him,” said McShay. Well, thankfully, he is not a GM…

There is no way Bryce Young falls past the Indianapolis Colts picking at No. 4

Is there some merit to Young being a smaller guy? Sure, but the consequences are grave if you pass on him for a quarterback not named Bryce Young. Even if C.J. Stroud, Will Levis, Anthony Richardson or whomever becomes a superstar in the NFL, nobody will blame an general manager for taking the best quarterback talent coming out in this draft, despite of the obvious height risk.

Over the last two college seasons, we have not seen a quarterback who encapsulates dynamism, leadership and winning to Young’s level. He is the only quarterback in Alabama football history to win the Heisman Trophy, and he did it with Bill O’Brien as his offensive coordinator. Let that sink in… Yes, he may break down like other smaller quarterbacks, but you have to take a chance on him.

Because if you don’t and he flourishes for somebody else, guess who will be out of a job and looking for a new private school to enroll one’s daughters in? You really only get one chance at being an NFL GM, so you better not screw it up. Fortunately for everyone involved, Young will probably be the first pick, maybe the second and absolutely no further than the fourth selection.

This has anything and everything to do with the quarterback-desperate teams in the AFC South…

Even if the Chicago Bears do not want to take a quarterback first overall because Justin Fields is awesome (he is), they have tremendous leverage to get someone to trade up with them for Young. The Houston Texans are picking at No. 2 and could move up, while the Indianapolis Colts are picking at No. 4 and will almost certainly have to trade up to get him. Let AFC game theory begin!

Houston would take Young for three reasons. One, they need talent in the worst way possible. Two, new head coach DeMeco Ryans is a former Alabama star player himself. And three, they need a face of the franchise with impeccable character to help wash out the remaining stink of the Deshaun Watson era gone awry. Let’s not overlook the fact that the Colts could want him as well…

Because the Colts hired Jalen Hurts’ former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen to be their head coach, Indianapolis is a very strong candidate to trade up to get Young. Their former head coach Frank Reich does not do short quarterbacks, but what does he know? It is not his team anymore. Plus, Jim Irsay seems to really have an affinity for Young like most of us do.

The other big factor here is the Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has strong ties to the Colts organization from his previous stop there as defensive coordinator. Given that the Colts play in the other conference from Chicago, Indianapolis is a very real trade partner for them. Although the same thing applies to Houston and the Las Vegas Raiders, the Bears-Colts connection is obvious.

Overall, the safe move actually is to take Young at or near the top of the draft. Shorting him on tangibles is a great way to lose your job, especially if you evaluate talent for a living. To be frank, it is riskier not to take Young at or near the top of the draft because of what he can actually do on the field. We are not going with the “he is a winner” argument. He is just a franchise quarterback.

Ultimately, a front office may not covet Young like others do, but he is going to go to a down AFC team and he is going to turn them around in a hurry. He is a better prospect than Tua Tagovailoa. Remember how stupid it was that we made a big deal about Joe Burrow’s tiny hands? Yeah, that was dumb. Burger King Hands be damned, it appears that Kenny Pickett can actually play as well.

If Young was only 6-foot-3, he would be the best quarterback to come out since Trevor Lawrence.

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