Bryce Young vs. C.J. Stroud: Settling the Debate
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Kansas City, Missouri (PSF) - With the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers select…
As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft, where the Carolina Panthers hold the number one overall pick, the consensus around the league and within league circles is that the pick will either be Alabama’s Bryce Young or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud.
While both quarterback prospects are well worthy of being the number one overall pick, in this article I am going to state my case and reasoning for which quarterback the Panthers should take first overall.
Starting with Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, the 6’3” prospect is the best pocket passer in this year’s class. Simply put, he is a sniper in the pocket when his offensive line gives him enough time to deliver a strike down the field to one of his many weapons. Trust me, Ohio State’s offensive line was able to do a lot of that for Stroud during his career as a Buckeye. And he certainly had enough weapons to throw the ball to as well.
Not only is Stroud an elite pocket passer and accurate distributor of the football, which is arguably his biggest strength, but he also has very underrated mobility when the pocket breaks down in order to keep the play alive and improvise while on the run. This was evidently seen in Ohio State’s College Football Playoff semifinal game against Georgia where Stroud went 23/34 with 348 passing yards, 4 TD’s, and added 34 yards on the ground.
Stroud played the best game of his career on the biggest stage of his career and silenced any doubters even in the one-point loss.
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While Stroud’s film is very impressive, there are two big concerns that come to mind when it comes to his game.
The first main and obvious one being that Stroud is not going to inherit a team as talented as Ohio State wherever he ends up going. Situation is so crucial when it comes to the draft as it will either be the reason why you were a successful pick or a bust. This is no different for Stroud as his offensive line at the next level will be nowhere near as good his offensive line was at Ohio State. No matter what, his offensive line at the pro level will only limit his ability to stand strong in the pocket and accurately deliver passes to his skill position players. Stroud’s greatest strength.
The second one being Stroud’s processing and decision-making. Moreover, Stroud reportedly scored an “18%” on the S2 cognition test, a cognitive test that focuses on processing and decision-making. Stroud’s score was the lowest of all reported scores from this year’s quarterback draft class. In fact, every other quarterback’s score was at least 28% higher than Stroud’s. Not only this, but also the fact that the way Ohio State’s offensive scheme is designed, the system allows Stroud to have predesigned reads which limits his ability to scan the field post snap.
My pro comparison for Stroud is a more mobile Jared Goff.
Shifting to Alabama’s Bryce Young, the 5’10” prospect is the point guard of this year’s draft class. As I like to say, he is Steph Curry on grass. When watching film on Young, he has that otherworldliness when it comes to his pocket presence, ability to make guys miss, and his scanning and processing of the opposing defense he is going up against.
Not only this, but like Stroud Young can also certainly make something out of nothing when the original play breaks down and when he is forced to move outside of the pocket if not the same, even better than Stroud.
Unlike Stroud, Young has that “it” factor in him which scares opposing defenses and defensive coordinators when it comes to tight games and when Young has the ball in his hands on the last possession of the game. His calm, cool, and collected demeanor infectiously spreads to his teammates around him as Young truly carries himself like a winner.
Butch Dill/AP
The only cons to Young’s game are his height and size which question his durability and ability to hold up at the next level, but those are two cons that are out of Young’s control and have been with him his whole life. So far, he has been able to overcome these concerns and prove everyone wrong who has questioned his physical appearance and stature. Other than that, Young has everything you look for in a franchise quarterback.
My pro comparison for Young is a more mobile Drew Brees.
As Panthers General Manager Scott Fitterer and Head Coach Frank Reich have spent the past few months deciding who they want their next face of the franchise to be which included trading up from nine to one overall in order to be in this position, the moral of the story is that they saw something special in one of the quarterback prospects that sealed the deal as to why they had to trade up eight spots to hold all of the cards and control the draft.
While Stroud is an elite pocket passer and by far and away the best one in this year’s class, when watching Young he is the prospect who screams special off the screen even with his height and weight concerns.
The Panthers did not make this trade to settle for Stroud even though he is a blue-chip prospect, they did it to draft someone in Young who is remarkably special in his play style and will look great in Carolina blue come draft night.
