Bryce Young

Bryce Young 2023 Fantasy Football Rookie Profile

Overview

Bryce Young, a former five-star recruit, had a front-row seat to a national championship as a freshman at the University of Alabama in 2020. Playing behind a former first-round pick in Mac Jones, Young played sparingly for the 13-0 Crimson Tide. Though he appeared in seven games, he completed just 13 of 22 passes for 156 yards and one TD.

While the Crimson Tide fell just short of an NCAA Championship win against the University of Georgia in Young’s sophomore season, Young had a season to remember. He became just the fifth sophomore ever to win the Heisman Trophy. Young led Alabama to a 13-2 record. He completed 366 of 547 passes for a whopping 4872 yards and 48 TDs, with only seven interceptions. He also rushed 81 times but ended with a net total of zero yards due to sacks and counting against him in College Football analytics.

Young didn’t quite replicate his magical sophomore campaign in his junior season. This was at least partially due to the drop in talent at the receiver position he enjoyed during the 2021 season. RB Jahmyr Gibbs ended up leading the team in receptions. All in all, he completed 245 of 380 attempts for 3328 yards and 32 TDs with only five interceptions. While the passing numbers weren’t as gaudy as in 2022, and the team fell just short of the College Football Playoffs, Young still led the Crimson Tide to an 11-2 record and a dominating Sugar Bowl win against Kansas State.

Young declared for the 2023 NFL Draft following the 2022 season. The Carolina Panthers traded away two first-round picks, two second-round picks and star WR D.J. Moore for the right to select Young first overall. Young will likely start at QB early in his rookie season for the new-look Panthers. He brings some hope and optimism to a franchise that has been searching for a star at QB ever since the decline and eventual departure of Cam Newton from Carolina following the Panthers’ Super Bowl run in 2015.

Pros

• Football IQ and decision-making
• Excellent touch and ball placement on short and intermediate throws
• Gets the ball out of his hands quickly; delivers passes with a good zip on the ball when needed
• Avoids pressure well within the pocket

Cons

• Size – both height and weight are below typical NFL QB standards
• Not immobile but had very minimal rushing production at the collegiate level
• Inconsistent deep ball at times

Bryce Young Player Comparison

Drew Brees (Former Quarterback, New Orleans Saints)

Despite being an avid Falcons fan, I admired watching Drew Brees during his career in New Orleans. He didn’t have the strongest arm, but he could surgically pick you apart on defense (especially when your defense is made of Swiss cheese like the Falcons’ defense during much of his career). No lead was ever safe with the ball in his hands.

Young plays like Drew Brees 2.0. He is methodical and poised. He is decisive. His timing and touch are impeccable. Young doesn’t always deliver the splash plays; rather, it’s death by a thousand cuts. He quickly and consistently delivers the ball to his playmakers in space and lets them do the rest.

In Carolina, he could be lacking in playmakers in year No. 1. However, he excelled at Alabama in 2022, even with a limited supporting cast this past year. Young will have to elevate the players around him to have a realistic shot at a winning season in 2023. As Carolina surrounds him with talent in future years, though, I fear it may be yet another long run of admiringly watching another NFC South QB carve up my favorite team for years to come.

Bryce Young Fantasy Football Projection

Bryce Young should be a top-four pick in superflex dynasty rookie drafts. Once considered the clear 1.02 in rookie drafts, Young has recently taken a back seat to Anthony Richardson in rookie draft Average Draft Position (ADP) since the NFL draft. However, he remains ahead of C.J. Stroud in most post-NFL Draft rookie drafts. Young brings the pedigree, production and draft capital that gives dynasty managers both security and upside at the QB position. However, he lacks an elite fantasy ceiling due to his lack of rushing upside. In 12-team, 1QB dynasty leagues, managers should draft Young as a late first to early second-round pick. This is behind the RBs and WRs with round-one draft capital, the top RBs with day-two draft capital, Richardson and the top two to three TEs.

In 1QB redraft leagues, fantasy managers will likely draft Young somewhere in the late teens to early 20s at the QB position. This puts him somewhere in the range of veteran QBs coming off of a down season like Matthew Stafford, lower-ceiling-but-safe QBs like Jimmy Garoppolo or Derek Carr and intriguing but unproven QBs like Jordan Love and Desmond Ridder. As such, Young will likely be drafted as a QB2 in most leagues. In more shallow leagues, he could even begin the year on the waiver wire.

Non-rushing rookie QBs haven’t had a strong history of recent production. Even recent No. 1 overall picks Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence both failed to put up elite fantasy production as rookies. As such, fantasy managers hoping for Young to be a late-round QB gem in redraft leagues may be disappointed. However, Young is the type of QB who could come on strong later in the season as he builds rapport and rhythm with his team. Young should have to throw the ball on a team devoid of top-end talent quite often. This could lead to some strong, albeit inconsistent production. He would be better suited as a best ball QB option in his rookie season than a QB you can count on for regular production in 2023 12-team, 1QB redraft leagues.

As Carolina hopefully continues to add more weapons around him in future seasons, Young appears poised for a bright future at the QB position at a time when QBs are more highly valued in fantasy football than they have been in quite some time.

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