I find it ridiculous that every year we hear NFL evaluators and football pundits harp on certain player's size as if it were an actual indicator of their potential durability when playing the game. Seriously, have any of you ever seen the talking heads provide any hard evidence, statistics, anecdotal information, etc. that shows a correlation between player size and their longevity in the league? Because I don't believe I have.
They did it with Devonta Smith 2 years ago and now, even more so, with Bryce Young. Despite BY obviously being the best player, bar-none in my opinion, available in this year's draft, questions and commentaries regarding his small stature continue to swirl. As if all of the NFL evaluators and scouts had not already seen Young in person, standing alongside his peers, inadvertently providing scale to show Bryce's true stature. THEY KNOW HE AINT THAT BIG AND HAVE FOR A LONG TIME! I don't think many, if any, NFL team is actually concerned with his size in any meaningful way. And here is why I say this...
JULIAN EDELMAN!
Julian Edelman entered the NFL as a, ( I believe,) 7th round pick for the New England Patriots. He was drafted as an, "Athlete," after playing QB at Kent State, (HEY! CNS's former team!) coming in at a whopping 5'10" and 198 pounds. That is a full quarter inch and 6 whole pounds smaller than BY. Edelman went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL at one of the most physical skill positions their is. During those 11 years, he had 8 in which he played in double digit games, (11 or more games,) and 10 in which he played in at least 9 or more games. To me, that is some serious longevity for a man of his stature playing a position that involves violent physical contact, (blocking, getting chipped by defenders, being tackled/receiving hits meant to knock him to the ground,) on a majority of snaps.
Sure, Edelman had plenty of injuries during his playing days that limited his time on the field, I'm not going to deny that. But Bryce Young, as a QB, should not experience anywhere near that sort of wear and tear. If he does, any blame for an injury should be laid squarely on the shoulders of the franchise he's playing for. Devonta Smith, another Bama player who garnered a lot of attention for his low playing weight, has excelled in the NFL in what is, in my opinion, a much more physically demanding position while weighing nearly 40lbs less than Young.
I will concede that the QB position can be subject to certain types of hits that most other positions do not experience on a regular basis, I.E. being blindsided. However, one of the most notable and impressive aspects of Bryce Young's game is his super human pocket awareness and savant-like ability to navigate and manipulate the pocket to his advantage. I've also seemed to notice, and this is purely anecdotal but please feel free to disagree, that these hits often do more damage to larger players because, well, the bigger they are the harder they fall. It often seems like more damage is done in these hits because of the awkward angle in which the hit contorts the player's body. If a concussion occurs from a hit like this, I'm of the mind that no amount of extra weight or height would do much to prevent it and might actually contribute to a harder fall.
Essentially, I think all of the efforts to bolster concern about BY's size are either purely for media headlines, attempts by NFL front offices to dissuade other teams from drafting him, or a little bit of both. In the modern NFL game that has nearly eliminated hard hits to the QB, I really can't think of a good reason any of this is being discussed. I believe Bryce will eventually fill out over 210lbs as he continues to mature. Frankly, he still looks very young and I predict in 3-5 years we'll see BY walking around comfortably between 210-220lbs and we'll laugh at all of the hoopla that was made during the 2023 draft.
They did it with Devonta Smith 2 years ago and now, even more so, with Bryce Young. Despite BY obviously being the best player, bar-none in my opinion, available in this year's draft, questions and commentaries regarding his small stature continue to swirl. As if all of the NFL evaluators and scouts had not already seen Young in person, standing alongside his peers, inadvertently providing scale to show Bryce's true stature. THEY KNOW HE AINT THAT BIG AND HAVE FOR A LONG TIME! I don't think many, if any, NFL team is actually concerned with his size in any meaningful way. And here is why I say this...
JULIAN EDELMAN!
Julian Edelman entered the NFL as a, ( I believe,) 7th round pick for the New England Patriots. He was drafted as an, "Athlete," after playing QB at Kent State, (HEY! CNS's former team!) coming in at a whopping 5'10" and 198 pounds. That is a full quarter inch and 6 whole pounds smaller than BY. Edelman went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL at one of the most physical skill positions their is. During those 11 years, he had 8 in which he played in double digit games, (11 or more games,) and 10 in which he played in at least 9 or more games. To me, that is some serious longevity for a man of his stature playing a position that involves violent physical contact, (blocking, getting chipped by defenders, being tackled/receiving hits meant to knock him to the ground,) on a majority of snaps.
Sure, Edelman had plenty of injuries during his playing days that limited his time on the field, I'm not going to deny that. But Bryce Young, as a QB, should not experience anywhere near that sort of wear and tear. If he does, any blame for an injury should be laid squarely on the shoulders of the franchise he's playing for. Devonta Smith, another Bama player who garnered a lot of attention for his low playing weight, has excelled in the NFL in what is, in my opinion, a much more physically demanding position while weighing nearly 40lbs less than Young.
I will concede that the QB position can be subject to certain types of hits that most other positions do not experience on a regular basis, I.E. being blindsided. However, one of the most notable and impressive aspects of Bryce Young's game is his super human pocket awareness and savant-like ability to navigate and manipulate the pocket to his advantage. I've also seemed to notice, and this is purely anecdotal but please feel free to disagree, that these hits often do more damage to larger players because, well, the bigger they are the harder they fall. It often seems like more damage is done in these hits because of the awkward angle in which the hit contorts the player's body. If a concussion occurs from a hit like this, I'm of the mind that no amount of extra weight or height would do much to prevent it and might actually contribute to a harder fall.
Essentially, I think all of the efforts to bolster concern about BY's size are either purely for media headlines, attempts by NFL front offices to dissuade other teams from drafting him, or a little bit of both. In the modern NFL game that has nearly eliminated hard hits to the QB, I really can't think of a good reason any of this is being discussed. I believe Bryce will eventually fill out over 210lbs as he continues to mature. Frankly, he still looks very young and I predict in 3-5 years we'll see BY walking around comfortably between 210-220lbs and we'll laugh at all of the hoopla that was made during the 2023 draft.
