There is a much bigger flaw to Bryce Young’s game entering the NFL Draft than his lack of size.
While Alabama quarterback Bryce Young should be the first player taken in the 2023 NFL Draft, there may be a bigger issue at hand for him than just being undersized.
The 2021 Heisman Trophy winner plays with a kind of magic reminiscent to his honest draft comparison of Joe Burrow. His college career will never eclipse what Burrow did in his magical final season at LSU, but he can absolutely be a star in this league. Of course, he needs to take a page of out Burrow’s game and other star quarterbacks. The dude needs to learn how to baseball slide.
I appreciate Young’s honesty here in revealing what could be a potentially fatal flaw in his game.
“I think one thing just in general I can get better at for sure is just learning how to like baseball slide. Because, full transparency, I don’t like know how to cleanly, efficiently do that. Like, I always kind of just got down. I knew eventually it was going to come a day where I need to — I’ve never really played baseball, so I knew eventually it was going to be a day where I need to learn how to baseball slide. I think now is a great time to attack that, so I think that’s something I’m definitely going to learn how to do.”
If you do not understand why this is so very important, then I don’t know even what to tell you…
Alabama’s Bryce Young knows he has to learn how to baseball slide in the NFL
Everybody likes different attributes in their quarterbacks, but I am a sucker for those with strong baseball backgrounds, especially those who were middle infielders like Drew Brees, Russell Wilson Patrick Mahomes and Matt Ryan. It showcases an ability to throw with touch, anticipation and good footwork from all angles. Other notable quarterbacks in the NFL played other key positions.
Matthew Stafford demonstrates good footwork from his days playing first base in the same infield as Clayton Kershaw. Justin Herbert and Jameis Winston were never afraid to let it rip in their days as pitchers. Even Tom Brady sees the whole field from his days behind the plate. He did get drafted out of high school by the then-Montreal Expos as a left-handed-hitting catcher after all.
Being able to slide is so very important because it prevents quarterbacks from taking unnecessary hits that shorten their promising careers. You live to fight another down while picking up a few yards in the process. There is also great value in collapsing in the backfield like a ton of bricks like Ryan, Philip Rivers, Joe Flacco and the Manning Brothers did on the reg. It helped soften the blow.
Being able to slide is purely a safety mechanism, but I cannot emphasize how important it is for a quarterback to have staying power at the professional level to have a baseball background. You have to make decisions very quickly in a skill game built around failure. It is a team sport, but everyone can see you fail in real-time. There are two other keys that come from playing baseball.
The first is you have to think of every possible situation before every pitch. If the ball is hit to me, what am I going to do with it? What does this at-bat require out of me to help my team win? Things like that. The other thing is you have to play the game with controlled emotions. You simply cannot will yourself to hit a home run or dominate from the rubber. The game has to come to you.
Ultimately, I think anytime a quarterback entering the NFL talks about sliding is a massive red flag for me. It does not mean he will not have success in the league, but it tells me more than anything that he is going to get hurt far more often than he should. Leadership traits, arm talent and being cool in front of a microphone are all wonderful things, but so is being able to suit up every Sunday.
Can someone get Young a slip-and-slide so he can stay cool while learning to slide this summer?
