Former Alabama Quarterback Praises Bryce Young’s Maturity and Intelligence

Bryce Young exploded onto the college football scene in his first season under center. He claimed numerous personal accolades and seemingly carried the Crimson Tide on his back at times. Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy appeared on ESPN’s “College Football Live” and praised the maturity and intelligence of the junior signal-caller.

“What I like most about him is his instincts, said McElroy. “And if you’re going to be top level caliber quarterback at the college level, you can throw it, you can run it, you can be accurate pushing the ball down the field. All of those are requirements, they’re no brainers but what he does really well is, he senses pressure, he understands where his answers are within the offense, and he gets the ball out his hands.

“You see on so many different occasions him throwing receivers open, often times there covered when he releases the football but by the time it arrives, they open up. I think his understanding of pressures shows just how mature he is. He studies it, he anticipates it and so many guys, especially early in their college career, they’re going to try and beat pressures and blitzes and unblocked defenders with their athleticism. He doesn’t do that; he beats them with his intellect. That shows a mature player that has a great understanding of where his weaknesses are within the protection and where his answers are within the route tree.”

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Quarterback whisper, George Whitfield, who coached four of the last five Heisman winners had some lofty admiration for Young.

“Bryce Young is college football’s best general,” said Whitfield. He’s the most battle tested, that showed not just in the playoffs and national championship game but really when we saw him fend off Auburn with the two 90-yard drives in the fourth quarter. He navigates, he leads, he handles the pressure, he is never a liability and always plays like an asset and he stays at a 5.

Former Heisman trophy winner Andre Ware chimed into the discussion and pointed to the composure and poise that Young plays with.

“What I see is composure, poise… and he throws one of the prettiest balls in all of college football. I’m glad to see that he added some weight, the ten pounds of weight gain and muscle gain.”

Young put up prolific numbers in 2021. He broke the school records for completions (366), passing yards (4,872) and touchdowns (47). Young set an Alabama record for most passing yards in a single game with 561, the previous record stood for 52 years.

The California native returns for his junior season with his eyes set on leading the Crimson Tide to a national championship.