Bryce Young opens up about relationship with past Alabama quarterbacks

If a high-level recruit wants to be an elite quarterback, recent history suggests they should look at Alabama.

Every year since 2018, an Alabama quarterback has finished in the top 10 in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, and current quarterback Bryce Young finally broke the ceiling this season, notching Alabama’s first Heisman won by a quarterback. 

Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones are now starting quarterbacks in the NFL, and Young still draws on their expertise. He has been speaking with the former Tide signal callers this week ahead of a national title matchup against Georgia on Monday.

“Yeah, I had heard (from them),” Young said. “Like you said, there’s such a rich quarterback history here — I’ve heard from, I talked to Mac not too long ago, a couple days ago. And him just telling me to keep going to the finish, to lock in, just to make sure that we finish everything off right.

And to hear from Mac really on a regular basis, just to have that respect from the other guys in the past, for me that means a lot.”

Jones led the FBS in passing yards last season and had a 203.1 passer rating. Only Florida’s Kyle Trask had more touchdown passes than Jones — 43 versus 41 — but Jones threw just four interceptions while Trask threw eight. Being able to witness and learn from Jones’ 2020 season undoubtedly contributed to Young’s quick rise.

“Being able to watch Mac last year, I really got to see what it was like being right next to him,” the sophomore added. “So carrying on that legacy and doing what I can to improve it, that means a lot to me and I take a lot of pride in that.”

Young is certainly carrying on that legacy, posting an incredible set of statistics in his first year as a starter. Through 14 games, Young has completed 67.6% of his passes for 4,503 yards, 46 touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s won the Heisman and collected numerous individual awards, but the always humble Young finished his comment by talking about a team goal, as the other two quarterbacks often did.

“I think everyone, all those quarterbacks understand being here and what our goal is as a team,” Young said. “So kind of being able to tap into that and feed into that, knowing that winning this game is always a goal for us at this program. So just being able to feed off of that, that means a lot.”