Potential No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young jokes he “can’t grow” amid concerns about his height ahead of NFL draft, as the five-foot-tall quarterback insists he’s “comfortable in my abilities”
- Standing at 5-foot-10, Young would be the shortest QB to be taken as No. 1 overall
- He recently overtook Ohio State QB CJ Stroud as a favorite to go to Carolina
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Alabama quarterback and current favorite to be picked with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft Bryce Young laughed off another question about his height on the eve of the draft.
The 5-foot-10 Young is the shortest signal caller in this year’s NFL Draft class, standing at least two inches shorter than the three other quarterbacks expected to go into the first round: Ohio State’s CJ Stroud, Ohio State’s Will Levis Kentucky and Anthony from Florida Richardson.
But Young insisted that talking about his height doesn’t bother him because he has no control over it.
“I just focus on what I can control,” Young shared The Charlotte Observer on the eve of the draft while standing on a Kansas City high school football field. “I can’t grow.”
‘I am myself, I feel comfortable in my abilities. … I’ve been at this height all my life, compared to the people around me.’
Potential No. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Young once again laughed off concerns about his height
The winner of the 2021 Heisman Trophy is currently the favorite for the Carolina Panthers
The DailyMail mock draft predicted that Young would be ranked No. 2 by the Houston Texans, with Stroud first overall, but the rumor mill has since taken a seismic shift.
Despite this perceived disadvantage, Young threw for over 3,300 yards and finished in the top-10 in the league in touchdown passes.
The 2021 Heisman winner has shown his versatility with 185 rushing yards and a completion rate of just under 65 percent.
Earlier this off-season, Carolina made a huge trade moving up from Pick No. 9 to Pick No. 1 and it’s been almost set in stone ever since that the team made the move to select their future franchise QB.
The last time Carolina grabbed a No. 1 QB, they selected Cam Newton from the University of Auburn, who happens to be Young’s Crimson Tide’s arch-rival.
“I have the utmost respect for Cam Newton,” Young said. “He could come in and have the success that he had, be the MVP, play at such a high level, get to the Super Bowl.
“All the things he does in the community. Aside from all that Alabama-Auburn, of course, that would be a huge honor.”
As Young mentioned, Newton had a huge amount of success during the prime of his career that he or any signal caller the Panthers hope to emulate.
CJ Stroud’s physical stature made him the original favorite to be selected as No. 1 by Carolina
Kentucky’s Will Levis recently got his name in the talks to become No. 1
Both Stroud and Levis also commented on their chances of being taken by the Panthers ahead of the draft.
“If you had asked me a few months ago I probably would have had a different answer for you,” Stroud said, while Levis said “all I have to say is don’t believe everything you read on the internet.”
Stroud spent most of the draft process as the betting favorite picked by Carolina, largely due to new head coach Frank Reich’s penchant for starting QBs who are six feet or tall.
Levis recently became the second favorite option after a reddit user said the Panthers would take him.