NFL Draft: Bryce Young jokes he ‘can’t grow’ amid concerns over his height

Alabama quarterback and current favorite to be taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft Bryce Young laughed off another question about his height on the eve of the draft.

The 5-foot-10 Young is the shortest signal caller in this year’s NFL Draft class and is at least five inches shorter than the three other quarterbacks projected to go in the first round: Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis, and Florida’s Anthony Richardson.

But Young insisted the talk about his height doesn’t bother him as it is out of his control. 

‘I focus only on what I can control,’ Young told The Charlotte Observer on the eve of the draft as we stood on a high school football field in Kansas City. ‘I can’t grow.’

‘I’m myself, I’m comfortable in my abilities. … I’ve been this height, relative to the people around me, for my entire life.’

The 2021 Heisman trophy winner is currently the favorite to be taken by the Carolina Panthers

DailyMail’s mock draft predicted Young to be taken No. 2 overall by the Houston Texans with Stroud going first overall, however the rumor mill has taken a seismic shift since then.

Despite this perceived disadvantage, Young tossed over 3,300 yards and finished top-10 in the league in touchdown passes.

The 2021 Heisman winner has shown his versatility with 185 rushing yards and a completion percentage of just below 65 percent.

Earlier this offseason Carolina pulled off a massive trade moving up from pick No. 9 to pick No. 1 and since then it has been all but etched in stone that the team made the move to select their future franchise QB.

The last time Carolina took a QB No. 1, they selected Cam Newton out of the University of Auburn, which just happens to be the archrival of Young’s Crimson Tide.

‘I have the utmost respect for Cam Newton,’ Young said. ‘Him being able to come in and have the success he had, being the MVP, playing at such a high level, getting to the Super Bowl.

‘All the stuff he does in the community. So all of that Alabama-Auburn aside, obviously that would be a huge honor.’

As Young mentioned, Newton had tremendous success during the prime of his career that he or whichever signal caller the Panthers will hope to emulate.

CJ Stroud’s physical stature made him the orginal favorite to be taken No. 1 overall by Carolina

Kentucky’s Will Levis has recently had his name thrown into the conversation to go No. 1

Both Stroud and Levis also commented on their chances of being taken by the Panthers ahead of the draft.

‘If you had asked me a couple of months ago, I probably would have had a different answer for you,’ Stroud said, while Levis said ‘all I have to say is don’t believe everything you read on the internet.’

Stroud spent majority of the draft process as the betting favorite to be picked by Carolina, in large part due to new head coach Frank Reich’s penchant for starting QBs that are 6-foot-3 or taller.

Levis has recently became the second favorite option after a reddit user said the Panthers would take him.