Bryce Young – A Risky Move for Many NFL Teams
Led by their head coach, Nick Saban, the Alabama Crimson Tide are once again a top favorite to win the National Championship in college football. This will be his 16th season in charge of the team from the Southeastern Conference. Winning the trophy six times in the last 13 years certainly ranks them above their competition in the NCAA.
Nick Saban is surely one of the main reasons for their success and he also became the first head coach to win the National Championship with two different Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
Despite his vast experience, the 70-year-old expert might eventually suffer from the everchanging course of college football. So far, he manages to stay on top of the game, but with time passing, we are getting closer and closer to the end of a whole era.
However, the Crimson Tide remain among the top favorites to grab the National title in 2022 as well. To learn more about their chances of winning the Super Bowl, click here https://www.bovada.lv/sports/football/college-football.
Alabama Crimson Tide – A team with a flawless background
The Crimson Tide also holds the NCAA record for most postseason bowl appearances with 75. Despite being consistent throughout their entire franchise history, the team went on to produce their first Heisman Award winner in 2009 when Mark Ingram II was ahead of everybody else in the race for the prize.
In the years to come, the franchise provided the NFL with other talented players including the Titans’ running back, Derrick Henry, and the Eagles’ wide receiver, DeVonta Smith.
Bryce Young – An almost perfect sophomore season
In 2021, a new name appeared under the spotlight in Alabama. The 20-year-old Bryce Young crushed the competition in his sophomore year and grabbed four significant individual awards at the end of the campaign.
He became the first Alabama quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy which was garnished by the Maxwell Award, David O’Brien Award, and the Manning Award.
His performance in 2021 was remarkable as he threw for 4,872 yards across 15 games. His completion rate sat at 68% while contributing to 47 touchdowns along the process. Young also set a new university record for most passing yards in a single game with 559 yards.
In the end, he suffered a serious hit to his overall NFL ambitions as he was unable to overcome Georgia’s challenge in the Championship game. He ended up with 35 completions from 57 attempts which was a slightly worse percentage than his colleague from the Bulldogs, Stetson Bennett, who finished off with 17-for-26.
A slow start to the 2022 NCAA season
Now, at the age of 21, he has surely grown throughout the past couple of months, and he gets closer and closer to a potential NFL debut. However, he is currently facing tough competition in the face of CJ Stroud who has been remarkable for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Stroud has also managed to surpass him in the race for the 2022 Heisman Award and has better odds to get drafted as a number one overall pick.
Young’s clumsy performance was first seen against the Texas Longhorns when the Crimson Tide were on the verge of losing to the 19.5-point underdog. Fortunately, a field goal in the last 10 seconds of the game by Will Reichard grant them the final victory, 19-20.
Bryce Young’s injury – A small, but unnecessary scare for Nick Saban
Bryce Young suffered a minor shoulder injury which sidelined him for the game with Texas A&M. His Crimson Tide also struggled in that match even though they had a 24-point cushion given by the bookmakers before the start of the game. They ended up scoring just 24 points, while at the same time allowing 20 points and a staggering 14 points in the 2nd quarter.
Young’s condition seems to be improving with each passing day, but he will need some time before picking up the lost momentum. His inability to live up to the expectations under immense pressure is what might raise some concerns ahead of the upcoming draft.
He is undoubtedly a one-of-a-kind quarterback who has so much potential that he can easily get drafted in the first round without playing a single game until the end of the season.
An incredible skill set, but still room for improvement
However, there is a huge difference between college football and the NFL, and he will need to further improve his consistency levels in order to claim a better deal for the next season. Teams nowadays are looking for team players who appear to be quite nonchalant so that their emotions cannot get the better of them on the pitch.
Young will certainly need to figure out a way to deal with this minor issue that threatens to stop him from unleashing his full potential.
Bryce Young is certainly a player to watch this year, but he will have to dig deep to top his performance from last season. Unfortunately, setting the bar way too high in 2021 might take its toll on his overall chances for the number-one pick in the upcoming NFL draft.
