Hall of Famer Bill Parcells on Bryce Young's Size: 'He Better Walk on Water'

Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Parcells thinks Bryce Young's talent has to be special to succeed in the NFL to overcome his lack of size.

Speaking to The Athletic's Dan Pompei, Parcells said Young "better walk on water" at the next level.

Pompei noted Parcells was referencing a saying from former Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf about bringing in undersized players, rather than the passage in the Bible about Jesus walking on water.

Parcells did acknowledge there have been undersized quarterbacks who have succeeded in the NFL, but it's a small percentage relative to the number of players at the position:

"I realize there have been a couple of good short quarterbacks, but most of the guys doing these jobs are not 5-10. So if you draft people that look like the people that are already doing these jobs, your percentage (of hitting on them) is greater than if you draft someone who doesn't look like them."

Young's size has been a talking point for months leading up to the draft, to the point there was speculation about how much he might weigh at the NFL Scouting Combine.

The Alabama standout ultimately measured in at 5'10" and 204 pounds.

It seems like the only reason there has been any debate about the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft is because of Young's size. Scouting reports generally agree he has the skill set to be a good player in the pros.

B/R's Derrik Klassen's comparison for Young is a downscaled Tony Romo because of his "accuracy, playmaking creativity and baseline processing skills" in games.

Per ESPN's Jeff Legwold, Kyler Murray is the shortest first-round quarterback since 1967 and tied with Johnny Manziel for the lightest. The Arizona Cardinals signal-caller measured in at the same height as Young and three pounds heavier (207) in 2019.

If Young ends up going to the Carolina Panthers with the top pick, he would be the biggest outlier in terms of size to go that high in the draft. But he's looked perfectly comfortable playing against SEC defenses in his college career.

The 21-year-old threw for 8,356 yards, 80 touchdowns and completed 65.8 percent of his passes in 34 career games at Alabama.

Taking on a loaded Georgia team in the 2021 SEC Championship Game, Young threw for 421 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-24 win. The Bulldogs defense had five first-round picks in the 2022 draft.