The NFL Combine is just days away and there are some serious rumblings about an ever-changing top 10 as the 2023 draft gets closer.
We’re still months away from top players like Jalen Carter, Will Anderson, and Bryce Young finding out where their NFL careers will begin. While Young has been a common consensus as the top quarterback in the draft, recent information and rumors have raised the question of if that’s even the case anymore.
Unlike last year’s group, the 2023 quarterback class has four quarterbacks that are expected to be going in the top-1o overall selections. The order has been highly contested.
Young has been the favorite to be the first quarterback taken off the board for months now, but rising stars like Anthony Richardson have begun to open questions about Young’s dependability in the NFL.
So is Bryce Young still the top quarterback coming into the NFL this draft class? The film, as usual, tells a lot about which quarterback has the edge over the others in each of the key categories to judge quarterbacks.
NFL Readiness – Bryce Young
Both Anthony Richardson and Bryce Young were involved in NFL-style offenses in 2022. In fact, each quarterback that is going early ran a type of pro-style offense. So why does Young have an edge here? Under Bill O’Brien, Young won the Heisman trophy and showed throughout several seasons as a starting quarterback that he can be “the guy” for any team.
Richardson only started one full season in Florida. That means that while he did show flashes, there’s no guarantee that he is ready to jump to an NFL team and play immediately. Whoever drafts Young will have a quarterback who can and probably will start week one.
The consensus for Richardson is that he would benefit from a year or two sitting on the bench and learning the game. In a results business like the NFL, immediate results are something a lot of teams have to consider.
Footwork – Bryce Young
Every quarterback in this draft needs work on their footwork. It’s understanding because the footwork is the first piece to learn when playing quarterback at the NFL level.
Yet Bryce Young has shown more proficiency in that mark than any other quarterback in his class. In fact, in terms of footwork, Richardson is arguably the worst in his overall class. In short, he’s a project that will need a year or two to develop where Young can help a team out immediately and win at the NFL level.
Nothing else to say here – Young is more technically sound at this point in their career.
Accuracy – Bryce Young
Turnover-wise, Young has the edge. Overall accuracy? Advantage, Young. While a player like CJ Stroud might have better examples of overall accuracy, the anticipation and ability to accurately dissect defenses is something Young has shown proficiency in at every level so far in his career.
It’s also a big reason why a player like Richardson is not the top quarterback in this class. While his work ethic is incredible and he can certainly grow to be a very good thrower, Richardson lacks anticipation and the accuracy needed to be a top quarterback. Looking at the numbers tells the whole story too. Richardson’s completion percentage in three seasons as Florida was 54%. That is less than Josh Allen’s 56% out of Wyoming and Allen was the third quarterback taken in the draft.
Anticipation matters when throwing the football at the NFL level. It’s why players like Carson Wentz have faltered in their careers after strong starts. If the quarterback can’t anticipate throws, they aren’t going to be able to throw anyone open and miss a ton of open plays.
It’s a key reason why Bryce Young is the best quarterback in this class.
Arm Strength – Anthony Richardson
This is the one metric that Richardson has over every other quarterback in the draft and is the reason why the Florida prospect is even considered a top quarterback in this draft. Richardson’s arm strength is the best in this class (better than Levis’) and that’s a big reason why he’s participating in the Combine in a few days. Everywhere on tape, you see Richardson’s arm strength and deep ball anticipation grow as the season progresses.
Bryce Young not throwing the football in the combine is not nearly as important as Richardson. In a site like Indy, big-arm quarterbacks who are working on their footwork need to impress at the Combine because that’s their first step towards showing NFL coaches that they can be taught and that there are raw physical tools that other guys just don’t have.
There’s a reason why Richardson is going to work out in Indy and Bryce Young won’t.
Play-Making Ability – Tie
There are two types of playmaking ability. And it’s the reason why both quarterbacks here are tied in this category. Richardson has the legs and comparisons to Cam Newton because he’s big and can win at the NFL level with his speed and athleticism. He was an exciting player to watch running the ball as much as throwing.
Young was much different though. He was still a dynamic player, but his play-making ability had more to do with escaping the rush, keeping his poise, and delivering an accurate ball on the move. Just because a quarterback can run doesn’t mean he has to and that’s a clear distinction between the two quarterbacks.
Richardson and Young are probably the best in their class at improvising. They both improvise in completely different ways though and that’s a big reason why neither has the edge in that category.
