McShay: Tua Tagovailoa ‘getting rag-dolled' raises concerns about Bryce Young's durability
ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay believes Alabama’s Bryce Young is the best pick for the 2023 NFL Draft, but Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud is the safer pick.
But most analysts predict it’ll be Stroud over Young to lead off the NFL Draft. At least for McShay, Tua Tagovailoa's injuries with the Dolphins last season raise concerns for Young, the latest Alabama quarterback making the transition.
“Looking at Tua Tagovailoa this past year, getting rag-dolled and thrown around, you worry about that a little bit,” McShay said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters. “But Tua doesn’t have the mobility and the pocket presence and the feel for pressure and even the escape ability that Bryce Young does.”
McShay cited the shoulder injury that briefly kept Young out of practice last year.
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“He stayed healthy as a two-year starter at Alabama, but you project to a 17-game season in the NFL with those defensive linemen — and I know the quarterbacks are protected now — but they’re still taking a beating,” McShay said.
Young was measured at 5-feet-10 and 204 pounds, raising the durability question, whereas Stroud is 6-3, 214. Otherwise, McShay said, Young has shown — just as Drew Brees did — he can locate receivers over linemen. McShay said watching Young play football is like watching Steph Curry on a basketball court.
“You know, the size just doesn’t matter,” he said. “ … They process things so quickly and see the whole field or the whole court. With Bryce, you get a player that can extend plays and create magic inside and outside the pocket.”
McShay said Young does it with a “willingness and the toughness to wait to the last second and he'll take the hit. Or he'll duck out of the hit right after he makes the throw. But to know exactly when it's a perfect timing, and when he has to bail on the play versus when he can hang in there and allow the receiver to get open ... and you see so many of his great plays, it’s like right before the defender is going to reach him.”
Bottom line:
“The only thing I'm worried about with Bryce is can he hold up?” McShay said. “You know, that's really it. I mean, if he was 6-2, 220 pounds, there would be no conversation. Bryce Young would clearly be the number one quarterback in this class.”
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com and followed on Twitter @gunnerhal.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Todd McShay: Tua Tagovailoa's injuries affect how I see Bryce Young
