Bryce Young Finishes 25th In PFF Quarterback Rankings

The Article

The silver lining for Panthers fans is that Bryce Young is the top rookie quarterback in the PFF rankings. According to author Sam Monson, “Young was the best quarterback in this draft by a considerable margin, and the only thing that made the discussion close was his lack of size…Young has elite accuracy, anticipation, and decision-making (back-to-back seasons with a 2.0% turnover-worthy play rate), but success at his size in the modern NFL is without precedent.”

Quite frankly, this assessments of Young’s skill is perfectly justified. Young is officially listed at 5′-10″, but it’s pretty clear that he’s not really that tall. While a sub 6′-0″ height used to be a kiss of death to NFL quarterbacks, recent successes of Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray have helped to dispel that narrative. However, both of those guys are (probably) taller than Young, so the first-overall pick truly is in a class of his own.

Aside from his height, it’s hard to find a flaw in Young’s game. He’s great with the football and is already impressing coaches with his football IQ, and while he’s not Lamar Jackson, he has the athleticism required to avoid rushers while keeping his eyes downfield to identify an open receiver. While he has yet to prove that he can handle life at the NFL level, he should be a solid starter in Year 1. So, should he be higher on the PFF quarterback rankings?

Where Should Bryce Young Be on PFF Quarterback Rankings?

As mentioned earlier, Young is ahead of seven other projected starters, and it’s hard to argue that any of those names should be ahead of the first-overall pick. Love, Howell, and Ridder are all inexperienced, Mayfield and McCoy are nothing more than bridge quarterbacks, and Stroud and Richardson were selected after Young.

25 is Young’s floor, but should he be ahead of any other veterans? The PFF quarterback rankings have Russell Wilson, Mac Jones, Kenny Pickett, Brock Purdy, and Jimmy Garoppolo directly ahead of Young, and you could make a case the first-overall pick should be ahead of some of these names.

Purdy played well in a small sample and Pickett came alive down the stretch, so perhaps those two deserve a higher spot on the PFF quarterback rankings. Wilson, Jones, and Garoppolo, meanwhile, should all be lower than Young.

Wilson was arguably the worst quarterback in the league last year, and it’s hard to see him getting better with Joe Lombardi as his offensive coordinator. There is no denying that Matt Patricia made life harder for Mac Jones, but he has yet to prove that he can be anything more than a somewhat-functioning pitching machine. Garoppolo, meanwhile, is entirely a product of his surroundings and isn’t even healthy right now.