Sunday will see the top two picks from the 2023 draft play against each other for the first time at the NFL level. The Panthers-Texans contest has led to renewed interest in Carolina’s decision to take Bryce Young first overall, a decision which left Houston with C.J. Stroud. 
The two quarterbacks have had much different levels of success in the early portions of their careers. Young has yet to reach 250 passing yards in a game while throwing four interceptions and taking 16 sacks in five games. Stroud, by contrast, broke the all-time record for most passes to start a career without an interception (191) and has helped led the Texans to a 3-3 start. Frank Reich, head coach of the 0-6 Panthers, recently spoke about his continued support for Young despite his slow start.
“We got the guy we wanted to get and couldn’t be happier about that — in every way,” he said, via Joe Person of The Athletic (subscription required). “I’m happy for C.J…. But I know this when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks or any position, it’s years not weeks.”
In the build-up to the draft, Reich’s history of working with bigger quarterbacks led many to believe he would endorse Stroud (6-3) over Young (5-10). The latter’s height did not appear to be an issue for Carolina by the time he was selected with the top pick, however, putting him in place to serve as the franchise’s presumed answer at the QB spot for years to come. He and the offense have sputtered to date, though, leading in part to Reich’s decision to hand over play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.
In spite of that, Reich remains adamant that serious consideration was not given to Stroud in advance of the draft. While Anthony Richardson (taken fourth by the Colts) was mentioned in regard to the No. 1 slot, the Panthers’ decision was realistically between Young and Stroud. Despite frequently being linked to the Ohio State alum, though, Reich confirmed in this week’s remarks that Young, the 2021 Heisman winner, was the Panthers’ priority throughout the pre-draft process.
“My eyes and our eyes were on Bryce Young from start to finish,” Reich added. “You look at the film. You talk to the man. You get a sense for the leader, the player and what he is and what he can be and how he fits to what we want to do… we got the guy for us.”
What’s he going to say? That he preferred Stroud, and he’s questioning if they made the right choice drafting Young?
Lmao facts. People are so surface level. I bet he regrets hard lmao
Yeah, and the door’s not shut on Young (or Stroud) just yet. I mean, the trade deadline in their first year of play hasn’t even passed. Houston wasn’t a good team last year, but I certainly think that they’re better than Carolina, who looks like they’re in shambles-even without Young considered. Stroud has played mostly well, but we do need to note that he is still completing a hair under 60% of his passes, and that has been trending downward the last three weeks. I expect that to go up in the Carolina game, and I expect him to continue to get better this year. He’s been better than Young for sure, but he does have a lot of room to improve.
Still, even though he has been mostly good, I don’t think that Stroud would have faired that much better than Young in Carolina, to be honest. This observation really doesn’t have much to do with Stroud himself, to be honest. That team (the Panthers) has been a mess culture and management wise since Tepper took over. Rivera, Wilks, Rhule, and now Reich have all lost games there. At some point, I stop looking at the players, or coaches, as being primarily responsible when there is one constant. And, as pleasant a return as Stroud has been, he probably isn’t enough to change that on his own-at least not in his first year.
I can play role of Bryce apologist but let’s not even begin to imagine the scrutiny there’d be for trading a number one overall pick less than half the season before deadline. I don’t think that’s ever happened in history.
I’m not suggesting that at all-as interesting as that could be from the outside. Whatever choice they’ve made, they have to roll with it. I only brought up the deadline as a chronological indicator of where we are in the season. Sorry if I wasn’t more emphatic on that point, my mistake.
I actually thought that the move up trade was completely forced, and I didn’t think that this past draft had that generational type prospect (I.e., Burrow) that would make it justified. The Panthers could have stayed where they were and likely gotten one of two similarly rated quarterbacks if they thought it necessary (either Young or Stroud). The trade is going to feel much worse too when the Bears end up with Carolina’s first overall pick next draft with a selection of possibly better quarterbacks than we’ve had in a couple of years.
It just felt like Tepper issued an ultimatum. Maybe he didn’t and Fitterer just decided to do it himself, but it always felt like Carolina just assumed that having the first overall pick would guarantee them a franchise quarterback that would fix their problems. You can’t force the player, and you can’t force the fit. Reich seems under the thumb of Tepper, so I highly doubt that we’re seeing his best coaching as is, but even if the owner isn’t literally standing in the draft room making the calls, he’s putting so much pressure on his staff that it doesn’t seem like they’d operate in a normal capacity at all. I don’t think that Stroud, Young, or any of the young prospects could play as well for a team that lacks a culture or a coach who seems undermined, frustrated, or even scared in his first year in.
Yeah he’s lying. Got caught in a massive draft mistake and they’re gonna see it first hand sunday.
Aside from Brees and about ten minutes of Kyler Murray, when have non-tall QB’s ever succeeded?
Doug Flutie and Fran Tarkenton say hi.
Tarkenton was a different era and Flutie never won the big game, though he could be a scrapper at times.
You need to have won the SB in order for a QB to be considered successful? I guess Flacco had a successful career and Marino was a failure.
No, but if you watched Flutie’s career and games, you’d know he was an inconsistent player that good teams easily neutralized with their game plans (and long-armed defenders). His passes got blocked a lot. I was rooting for him and watched almost all his games as a Bills fan, but he was too short to see over the blockers.
Russell Wilson had a great run in Seattle
Russell Wilson
Sonny Jurgensen
Russel Wilson
Not often, but it happens. In nearly every case, though, they had some scrambling ability. Brees and Jurgensen are the only two that I can think of who weren’t really runners. In Jurgensen’s era, the linemen were shorter than they are today, though, so it wasn’t as much of an impediment seeing over the middle as it was for Brees. Also, Jurgensen thew like a modern quarterback physically-people know about Marino’s quick release, but fewer have seen Jurgensen’s, which was earlier and almost as good (and he threw with a lot of power). In the modern NFL, with every lineman over 6’ at a bare minimum, the hardest thing in terms of height is seeing the deep middle of the field.
A good example is what we’re seeing with Russell Wilson today in Denver. In Seattle, he would scramble out of the pocket, and find his receivers on broken plays all the time. He wasn’t really fantastic as throwing into the deep middle, probably because of his height. In Denver, that inability has limited him in the Payton offense. Even if watch the old Brees tape, it was very noticeable that he really had to strain to see over his linemen-you’d see his chin stuck up almost to the sky and his head arched back to try to get a line of sight to his receivers. Obviously, this worked epically for him, as Wilson’s alternative play style did in Seattle for almost a decade. Short QBs can have success today, but they still need to work around their height or use alternative plays to capitalize on other advantages to have a decent chance. Of course, height is only half of the size argument-even as offense friendly as the league is now, the build (not weight necessarily) needs to be enough to withstand hits. Wilson is an example there too-he’s stockier than most people his height, and hasn’t missed many games as a result. Young, by contrast, is not.
vick.
If they didn’t consider Stroud, maybe they should have. If you don’t even look at other options, how do you know what you’re missing? Young could end up fine, but I would be worried about his durability at his size.
Owner interference written all over this. The coach can’t say a word.
Might just be another ‘owner’ draft pick and not the GM or Coach did the choosing.
Recent trend has been ‘mobility’ with some QBs being the chosen verses size.
Thinking Wentz and Darnold put doubts into teams thinking size matters. Jackson and Mahomes brought forth Fields and Hurts and Murray and Tua
Except Tua isn’t even remotely what anyone would describe as mobile Quarterback.
Mahomes has scrambling ability, but he is not really a scrambling QB stylistically. He also has decent size, at 6’2” and 225 lbs. He looks bigger to me on the field, but those are his official measurements.
Jackson is also 6’2” and was billed at 215, though he looks smaller. It’s more his build that is the issue, because he is a running QB. Mahomes is a player who is more dangerous from the pocket than running for yardage, though he can do so if necessary. Mahomes is good at that, though, because he is such a dangerous thrower. Defenses can’t just sit on him.
Besides, Wentz was pretty good for the first part of his career. Two years after the Super Bowl win he started to break down. His decline doesn’t have as much to do with his size. Murray has already had a few injuries, as had Jackson, that I’m sure will make prospective GMs consider the size argument. You don’t often get a QB that has both, like Allen or Cam Newton. Even Daniel Jones is a big guy-he is one of the top scrambling QBs in the league in terms of running ability. If Jones weren’t the size that he is, I doubt that he’d have to avoid major injury for so long, considering how often he has to escape pressure. So size has its advantages. It’s not going to be enough to turn a bad prospect into a good one, though-in my opinion, small size is an impediment, but not one that can’t be overcome by other advantages.
“Yea, we kinda F’d that one up , didn’t we?” Now THAT would have been a entertaining response from Reich.
Reich also said Wentz was the guy while in Indy. The only success Reich ever had was the 2 years when he had Luck & Rivers. They called their game at the line. Reich is no QB whisperer; he’s not too great of an OC; & he surely sucks as a head coach.
And that’s y he’ll be out in weeks not yrs all was go with the bigger qb if he’s the considered a top pick or player also
Hey, we absolutely must drag Frank Reich onto the red carpet and have him account for drafting Young. it’s obvious to everyone, that every other QB that has ever been drafted in the first round became an unqualified success.
6 games. Neithers career is defined in 6 games.
Another article just mentioned how Aaron Rodger was 6-10 in his first season as a starter, and that’s after 3 years on the bench. Alex Smith needed better coaches and players around him to start looking good.
Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman horrible rookie seasons.
Having your eyes on one guy from start to finish is a confession, not an excuse.
If you confess in the NFL, Goodell requires you to throw 3 Hail Mary’s as penance for your sins.
Young’s not just small, he’s also sleight.