Nick Saban explains why size shouldn't matter with Alabama QB Bryce Young

As Alabama hosts its Pro Day on Thursday it’s yet another chance for star quarterback Bryce Young to show off in front of scouts as he looks to cement himself as a high draft pick, likely in the top 10 of this year’s 2023 NFL Draft.

Young has been under intense scrutiny for his size at 5 foot 10, 204 pounds, but his college coach thinks that shouldn’t be an overriding factor when NFL teams are considering him.

“I don’t think so. I think you should ask the people that had to play against him the last couple years and see if they think it affected his performance,” Nick Saban said on the SEC Network. “I really don’t. I think he’s so instinctive, he processes so well, he prepares so well, he’s got quickness in the pocket, he plays the position like a point guard in basketball and his production and consistency of performance have been off the charts. Most of the time those things will translate to the next level.”

As rumor season begins and all kinds of crazy trade scenarios are floated and teams’ reported interests wane and shift, sometimes over the course of a few hours depending on whose reporting you’re listening to, things can get kind of hectic.

But from Saban’s standpoint things have been pretty normal so far.

He’s had productive conversations with a handful of coaches about Alabama’s Bryce Young as a quarterback prospect, and the Crimson Tide entertained a reported 125 NFL scouts for the Pro Day, according to an SEC Network estimate.

“I think people, the closer you get to the draft, the more and more they do it,” said Saban, asked about the rumor mill. “I met with three or four coaches today. I think people don’t ask you about players that they don’t feel are going to fall to them, so the people that are up there in the draft have all talked to us about him.”

The other perk that Young has is he’s part of the Alabama machine that has been churning out top NFL talent ever since Saban arrived.

There’s something to be said for that, and Saban pitched its utility not just for guys like Young, but for all types of players who might be interested in his program and a career in the NFL.

Saban honed his pitch.

“I think more importantly than ever it’s important to create value for players when they’re going to college,” he said. “You’re making sure they’re graduating, you make sure they develop good habits as a person and you’re making sure you have the best resources to help them develop a career as a football player. And I think the more we can do that the more you mitigate the transfer, the name, image and likeness and all those types of things that have kind of infiltrated our game to some degree.

“Because you say to guys we’re all about helping you create value for your future, not necessarily how much money you’re going to make while you’re in college. I think there’s a difference between those two things and that’s something that days like this, the things that we’ve been able to do in the past, having the most guys playing in the league, the most guys drafted, I think all those things contribute to that.”