NFL Exec on Bryce Young's Size: 'I'm as Scared as Everybody Else' amid Criticism

It turns out Alabama embellished Bryce Young's height quite a bit, and NFL teams are worried.

Young, who was listed at 6'0" at Alabama, measured in at 5'10.25" at the NFL scouting combine last week—much to the unease of league executives.

"There is something special about his ability to see it and get the ball out, but I'm as scared as everybody else when I went and saw him and saw how small he was," an executive told Mike Sando of The Athletic. "He and Ohio State (quarterback C.J. Stroud) are neck-and-neck, and really you are beating up the other guy because of something we can't fix."

From a pure quarterbacking standpoint, Young's a complete package. His combination of deep passing ability and accuracy is second to none in this class, and he has the quickness to break out of the pocket and scramble and the IQ to know when to pull up and throw a pass on the run.

Size is his only major drawback, and which is not an invalid concern. Young is the exact same height as Kyler Murray, who went with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, but he's still one of the smallest quarterbacks ever measured at the combine.

Murray was among the league leaders in balls batted down at the line of scrimmage in each of his first two NFL seasons before he adjusted his game. He finished in a tie for seventh in batted passes in 2021 and 20th in 2022, although he played only 11 games this past season.

Young will likely have similar struggles early in his career as he gets used to smaller passing windows. With that said, Murray's ability to adjust speaks well to height being an overwrought concern in modern offenses. Russell Wilson, who's listed at 5'11", also consistently avoided bats at the line throughout his career before things fell apart in a nightmare 2022 campaign.