With the NFL Combine cranking up this week, the big decisions are being made:
“Will I or won’t I do all of the meat market stuff while I’m here in Indianapolis?”
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young — the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner — has opted out of all throwing drills. He will instead throw at the Alabama on-campus Pro Day on March 23. Healing up from injuries for another month was the reason given to NFL.com insiders, they reported Monday. But there are undoubtedly other reasons beyond an extra month of recovery.
Young tossing the ball around for the first time in this spring evaluation stage will certainly create a buzz — an even bigger buzz than Alabama’s Pro Day already would typically produce (usually a ton).
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Here are a couple of other things to consider when it comes to Young’s decision, for those of you who are not familiar with the games that are played in the spring — by both sides of this high-priced draft craziness:
BRYCE YOUNG’S REASONS
- THE INJURY: Young suffered a shoulder injury (AC joint) early in the 2022 season at Arkansas. But he recovered quickly enough to be back on the field in a matter of weeks and even with worries he may hurt himself in the bowl game, he played and led the Crimson Tide to a win over Kansas State. He wasn’t eligible for the postseason all-star games, but he did play down the stretch for ‘Bama. So while he may be healing up and that may be the line being given, if Young were deemed a day-two or day-three prospect — you damn sure know he’d be throwing this week.
- PROSPECT STATUS: But that’s just the thing isn’t it — he’s not throwing this week because in the expensive chess game that is “projection”, Young sits at the top of the heap and doesn’t have to throw. What he really needs to focus on this week isn’t the physical stuff, he’s shown he’s the best of the best with that on film and in big games for the most well-coached college program in the nation. What he needs to focus on is being interviewed by more than two dozen professional teams that would give him millions to suit up in their town, but want him to spew the perfect answers before they pull out the checkbook in a couple of months. Nothing else holds a candle to those interviews, especially when you’re a quarterback and evaluators want to see how you tick in person, not necessarily a repeat of what they’ve seen on film when you throw the out route.
- PRO DAY ATTRACTION: While Alabama will obviously have all 32 teams on-site at on-campus Pro Day, those 32 teams will bring even more evaluators now that Young will toss the pigskin around. And having that many sets of eyeballs will help get Young’s teammates noticed even more (this method is used at many campus Pro Days). Granted, many of Young’s teammates are already viewed highly — but if a guy is looking like a day-three guy right now? An extra dozen sets of eyeballs on him might just bump him up to day two if the prospect shows out (and that’s a lot of money). It may seem a strange way of doing things, but just like Young refused to forego the bowl game to make sure he didn’t injure himself, he’s once again showing leadership by being the honey that will help attract a bigger hive of scouts come March 23 — and that leadership is exactly what NFL brass is looking for. Young doesn’t even have to explain the above — the people who know the draft game know that’s part of why he’s not tossing the ball around at the combine this week.
And that’s the story within the story. The story on the surface is that he’s healing up — but as with anything regarding the draft, there’s way more to it than that. Don’t buy that this is only about an October injury, its actually about leadership.
BRYCE YOUNG: Complete college statistics
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