2023 NFL Draft: Carolina Panthers select Alabama QB Bryce Young with first overall pick
Posted April 27, 2023 6:52 p.m. EDT
Updated April 28, 2023 2:13 p.m. EDT
Kansas City, Mo. — The Carolina Panthers selected Alabama quarterback Bryce Young with the first overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday night.
Young, 21, became the third Panthers’ quarterback to be drafted in the first round, joining Cam Newton (first overall in 2011 out of Auburn) and Kerry Collins (fifth overall 1995 out of Penn State).
"I really have a strong will, especially with this organization in Carolina to do everything I can help them be successful," Young said.
Young became the highest-drafted Alabama quarterback of all time.
"Playing at Alabama was a tremendous opportunity," Young said. "To be able to play against the best every day in practice, to be able to play against the best within the [Southeastern] Conference, to be able to play on those big stages, to play in those big games, stuff like that is, I feel like that's why we play the game.
"And, I think it's really pushing me to be a better person and better player, and I'm grateful for that experience."
Young said it was surreal to know that kids growing up where he did in Pasadena, California, will wear his Panthers jersey.
“It’s surreal,” Young said. “It’s a dream come true.”
Young thanked his parents and people who supported him growing up.
“I can’t be more excited, and I’m blessed to a Panther,” Young said.
The 2021 Heisman winner recorded the second-most passing touchdowns in a two-year span in SEC history with 79.
"As amazing as a moment this is, I'm going to try to live in this moment, I can't wait to get to work," Young said. "I'm going to start building off of it."
Young becomes the second quarterback ever selected by the Panthers with the first overall pick. The other was when the team picked Cam Newton in 2011 out of Auburn.
“Well, all Alabama and Auburn stuff aside, I have the utmost respect for Cam Newton,” Young said Wednesday ahead of the draft. “Him being able to come in and have the success he had.”
The Panthers selected Young instead of several other quarterbacks projected to go in the first round, including Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Florida’s Anthony Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis.
The Houston Texans selected Stroud with the second overall pick and the Indianapolis Colts picked Anthony Richardson with the fourth pick.
Bryce Young’s size
At the NFL Combine, Young measured at 5’10” and 204 pounds.
Stroud is listed at 6’3” and 214 pounds, Richardson at 6’4” and 244 pounds, and Levis at 6’4” at 229 pounds.
Asked about Young’s size, Newton pointed to the Arizona Cardinals’ selection of Kyler Murray with the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and the Cleveland Browns’ selection of Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft.
“That’s not even a valuable topic or … that’s not even a valuable point that you’re trying to make if you’re trying to say he’s small,” Newton said of Young.
On “Cam Newton’s Take,” a video podcast released on Wednesday, Newton said he would approve of the Panthers taking Young with the first overall pick.
“My only knock on Bryce Young is he went to Alabama,” Newton said of Young. “How petty it may sound to some people, but you have to be from Alabama or to have gone to Auburn or Alabama to understand the severity of that topic.”
However, there’s a reason Young’s height and weight were held against him, as pointed out by The Ringer’s Ben Solak. Since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, 172 quarterbacks have started at least 50 games—only 11 of them were 6-foot or shorter. Murray, Michael Vick, Russell Wilson and Drew Brees are among that group.
Looking at quarterbacks drafted since 1970, 30 of the 522 quarterbacks selected (5.7%) have been 6-foot or shorter.
Looking at the first three rounds of the NFL Draft, only seven of 241 quarterbacks.
Looking at quarterbacks drafted in the first round since 1970, there have been three out of 127: Vick, Murray and Johnny Manziel.
Young became the lightest quarterback selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Murray and Manziel held the previous record at 207 pounds each.
Murray and Manziel were previously the only two quarterbacks drafted in the first round who were under 6 feet.
Young became the overwhelming favorite to go No. 1 overall in mid-April
In March, all signs pointed to the Panthers selecting Stroud immediately after the team acquired the No. 1 overall pick of the draft in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago Bears.
WRAL News asked Stroud on Wednesday what it’s like going from a star player in college to an NFL rookie.
“I’m glad you asked that because people don’t really understand,” Stroud said Wednesday. “I think the transition … everybody is talking about how great we are coming into the draft, and it’s going to be a process though.
“I’m going to go in with full confidence.”
In mid-April, Young emerged as the overwhelming favorite, according to oddsmakers at several different sportsbooks.
Young’s selection came despite a late surge from Levis, whose odds to go No. 1 overall shot up based on a Reddit post from “SaleAgreeable2834.” It’s unclear who runs the Reddit account.
Levis went from +5000 to +500 on FanDuel; +5000 to +400 at PointsBet; and +4000 to +400 at DraftKings Tuesday within hours of the Reddit post going live.
“These are the only dudes in the world who know what is going through our minds,” Levis said Wednesday of the players gathered in Kansas City expected to be first-round draft picks.
To get the top pick, the Panthers sent the Bears the ninth overall pick in this year's draft, the late second-rounder acquired from the San Francisco 49ers (61st overall), along with next year's first-round pick, a 2025 second-rounder and wide receiver D.J. Moore.
How Bryce Young pairs with Frank Reich
Young will be a rookie on the field this year while Panthers head coach Frank Reich will be new to the team on the sidelines.
"It wasn't much convincing," Reich said. "You just watch the tape.
"There's a lot said about the size. At the end of the day, there's a lot of factors that go into it, but we're coaches. We're scouts. We watch the tape. And, when you watch the tape, Bryce Young is the best player."
On Tuesday, Reich said he and general manager Scott Fitterer had reached a consensus on which quarterback they prefer.
"When we met in February, there was just overwhelming conviction for him," Fitterer said of Young on Thursday night.
Panthers owner David Tepper echoed Fitterer's sentiments about Young.
"We felt this guy had the highest probability of winning Super Bowls," Tepper said of Young.
Tepper said Thursday the initial trade proposal to get a top pick was to acquire the second overall selection from the Houston Texans. The proposed deal fell through.
None of Reich's quarterbacks the past 17 years has been shorter than 6’2”. The list includes:
- Nick Foles: 6’6”
- John Skelton: 6’6”
- Peyton Manning: 6’5”
- Kerry Collins: 6’5”
- Dan Orlovsky: 6’5”
- Philip Rivers: 6’5”
- Carson Wentz: 6’5”
- Curtis Painter: 6’4”
- Andrew Luck: 6’4”
- Jacoby Brissett: 6’4”
- Matt Ryan: 6’4”
- Ryan Lindley 6’2”
- Sam Ehlinger: 6’2”
