Nick Saban casts doubt on Bryce Young’s NFL stock

Alabama coach Nick Saban said Bryce Young’s shoulder injury is good, so stop asking!

As Alabama returned to the top in a recent AP poll, Nick Saban had to answer questions about the health of Heisman Award-winning quarterback Bryce Young.

Young picked up a shoulder injury in the first half of Saturday’s road win in Arkansas. While Galen Millroe came in and played well, Alabama needed an exciting fourth quarter to break out of the jogging jackhammer Gibbs to beat the pigs, yeah! but, Saban’s comments About Young’s health won’t exactly help his case make him the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

“I think he’s fine,” Saban said after Alabama’s road win over Arkansas. “He doesn’t have a serious injury. We didn’t think he could come back to the game today because I didn’t think he had a lot of strength to throw the ball.

“He had this [injuries] Before and after a few days he begins to respond well. So we just have to see how it goes, you know, we play it day in and day out.”

While everyone is aware of the arm talent and general dynamism with which Young plays as a centre-back, his small stature and being somewhat injury prone almost guarantees us that he will not be the first player to come off the board this spring. He’ll climb into the top ten, but these are the same problems we had with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa exiting the 2020 NFL Draft.

We’re still a long way from the 2023 NFL Draft, but the smart money is in Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud being the first man off the board. Heck, there’s even a chance that Young isn’t even the second drafted player next spring. Will Levis of Kentucky and even Anthony Richardson of Florida have some of that positive side that will salivate many NFL general managers.

At the moment, Young is doing his best to play against Stroud, but we’re not sure if he’ll get there.

Alabama: Nick Saban inadvertently harpooners Bryce Young’s NFL Draft stock

Yes, there are a few teams in the NFL who could use a new quarterback for the franchise. We know who they are, but all things being equal, the NFL General Manager would side with Stroud Over Young for reasons of size and durability. This might allow Young to slip a bit and land with a better advantage. Then again, bad guys like the Chicago Bears can trade to craft their own Justin Fields…

While the franchise’s quarterback game crafting is an imprecise science, three things are usually true when evaluating the caller to point out the note. The sooner the quarterback starts in college, the better. Unless you’re Josh Allen or Matt Ryan, it’s hard to improve accuracy at the next level. And if you’re prone to injury in college, you probably won’t be a fortress of health at the next level…

Young will have two years from the start under his belt before he becomes a professional. It’s more than accurate enough to be played on a Sunday in the fall. The place he gets hit is in the health department. This is why Tagovailoa may never live up to the #5 hype overall by the Miami Dolphins. Not to say that Sam Bradford is left-handed, but he’s on that career path so far.

The combination of size and injury history does not bode well because Young has become the first choice.

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