ESPN analyst shades Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa with Bryce Young take

ESPN’s Damien Woody is a big believer in Bryce Young coming out of the Alabama program.

The Carolina Panthers appear to have drafted someone special in quarterback Bryce Young out of Alabama.

Carolina traded up from No. 9 to No. 1 to select the 2021 Heisman winner out of Tuscaloosa. Young may be undersized, but he plays the position with a similar dynamic presence akin to Joe Burrow. When asked about sizing up the four Alabama starting quarterbacks in the NFL today, ESPN’s Damien Woody likes Young’s talent the most, but Jalen Hurts’ Philadelphia Eagles more.

Woody essentially said where you land matters, as Young going to Charlotte is closer to Tua Tagovailoa going to Miami, or even Mac Jones going to New England over Hurts to Philadelphia.

Woody is absolutely right about Young’s superior talent, but Carolina has a meddling newish owner in David Tepper, causing the Panthers to not be as well-run as they had been previously.

Simply put, does Young have the talent to overcome Carolinian dysfunction to be Alabama’s best?

ESPN’s Damien Woody throws shade at Jalen Hurts while praising Bryce Young

Look. Woody is absolutely right in his assessment of the situation. If all four of these quarterbacks were playing behind that Eagles offensive line, odds are that in due time, Young would prevail over all of his Alabama quarterbacking predecessors. The gap between him and Hurts would not be as vast as the one between him and Jones and Tagovailoa, but it would become undeniably apparent.

Truth be told, none of these four quarterbacks are physically imposing. Jones may have the most prototypical frame, but he has the lowest ceiling. Unfortunately, Tagovailoa’s career is hanging on by a thread. While Hurts has the ability to stick in the league for the longest, we still have yet to see Young play in a game that counts at the professional level. It’s why we are so intrigued by him.

Overall, Young’s success in this league will come down to how well he protects his body, how well the Panthers surround him with talent, and how well the Carolina coaching staff performs at its job. This could go exceeding well for Young, or he could be just a guy by the end of his rookie deal with the Panthers. It has happened to plenty of quarterbacks before who are even more talented.

For now, Young has all the potential on his side for analysts like Woody to make this great claim.