{"id":38577,"date":"2023-10-03T12:05:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=38577"},"modified":"2023-10-04T11:21:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T15:21:53","slug":"the-break-out-as-cj-stroud-and-anthony-richardson-shine-bryce-young-doesnt-look-like-he-belongs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2023\/10\/03\/the-break-out-as-cj-stroud-and-anthony-richardson-shine-bryce-young-doesnt-look-like-he-belongs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Break Out: As CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson shine, Bryce Young doesn\u2019t look like he belongs"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Photo Courtesy of Darren Cummings\/AP)<\/em><\/p>\n

CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson are flying high, while Bryce Young is playing with clipped wings. What is making Stroud and Richardson such electric rookie passers, and what is going on with the number one overall pick?<\/p>\n

By Sam Robb O\u2019Hagan<\/em><\/p>\n

The snapshots from Week 4 in Houston, Indianapolis, and Carolina were telling.<\/p>\n

CJ Stroud, after a dominant victory at home against a vaunted defense, felt empowered enough to urge the entire city of Houston to wear their Texans jerseys with pride.<\/a><\/p>\n

Anthony Richardson made superhuman throw after superhuman throw on his way to a 23-point comeback that wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

And then there was Bryce Young, so starved of ideas in his team\u2019s fourth loss that when the camera did cut to him, he often met it on the sidelines, his helmet perched above his head, his eyes staring into the abyss.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t difficult to figure out how things are going for the NFL\u2019s trio of marquee rookie quarterbacks. It is notably more difficult, however, to figure out which one was the first pick.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to remember why, exactly, these three quarterbacks were drafted so high. There was little consensus on their order and rank before the draft \u2014 the Panthers didn\u2019t draft Young first because he was clearly the draft\u2019s best quarterback, nor did the Texans draft Stroud because he was obviously the second.<\/p>\n

Carolina, Houston, and Indianapolis all hung their hats on specific stand-out traits.<\/p>\n

That is why, though he\u2019s done things like become the first player in NFL history to throw for 1,200 yards without an interception in his first four starts, nothing is as important as Stroud\u2019s flashes. It\u2019s the critical evidence that the uber-confident accuracy that made him the second-overall pick is translating to the pros.<\/p>\n

Stroud throws with so much anticipation that it appears almost irresponsible, but every time it works. Check out these two throws against Jacksonville<\/a>, minding the position of the receiver when Stroud begins to throw the ball.<\/p>\n

The Ringer\u2019s Benjamin Solak put it perfectly \u2014 the young man\u2019s got the goods.<\/p>\n

Rookie quarterbacks don\u2019t do this. Many veteran quarterbacks don\u2019t do this. This level of belief and aggressiveness, and the understanding of the game it all requires, is an elite quality.<\/p>\n

And, by the way, Stroud isn\u2019t just an admirably eager young quarterback. The arm talent is translating \u2014 watch the combination of velocity and touch on this gorgeous 52-yard touchdown pass<\/a> to Nico Collins on Sunday.<\/p>\n

So, yes, if you are a Texans fan, it\u2019s probably time to start wearing that jersey again.<\/p>\n

Richardson\u2019s second-half heroics on Sunday probably sold plenty of Colts jerseys, too.<\/p>\n

There are no \u2018first in NFL history or four-digit numbers on Richardson\u2019s stat sheet. The excitement isn\u2019t grounded. Much of it remains a theory, much like it did when Indianapolis made him the fourth overall pick.<\/p>\n

But it would be almost impossible to find a theory more exciting than Richardson\u2019s ceiling. And there is a tower \u2014 a 6-foot-4, 244-pound tower \u2014 of mounting evidence that he might just go ahead and reach it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can tell,\u201d Colts\u2019 tight end Drew Ogletree said after the game on Sunday, \u201che\u2019s going to be something special in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ogletree caught the third of Richardson\u2019s three total touchdowns on Sunday to complete the Colts\u2019 23-point second-half comeback, which ended as a 29-23 overtime loss to the Rams.<\/p>\n

The loss won\u2019t matter to the Colts. Because everyone can tell.<\/p>\n

Richardson made a series of superhuman throws on Sunday, defiant proof that the impossible plays he was drafted to make can carry his team.<\/p>\n

There was this 38-yard bomb to Alec Pierce<\/a>, on second-and-20, in the arms of Aaron Donald, without forward momentum and only his arm to generate the required torque on the ball to even get it down there. Or this perfectly placed back shoulder throw<\/a> to Kylen Granson that, if caught, would\u2019ve put the Indianapolis in position to kick a game-winning field goal. Or this rocket up the seam<\/a> to a streaking Josh Downs.<\/p>\n

Or this<\/a> \u2014 the Colts\u2019 first touchdown of the game \u2014 a stumbling, near-horizontally-platformed rope to Mo-Alie Cox at the tail end of a dead play.<\/p>\n

And there are also the 131 yards and four touchdowns Richardson has accumulated on the ground in his first two-and-a-half games. Plays on which, as it turns out, it helps to be that tall, that big, and that fast.<\/p>\n

There are plenty more reasons, in between all of the dropped jaws, to believe in Richardson. But, for now, as he leads the league in explosive play rate<\/a>, there\u2019s little need to get into any of the boring stuff.<\/p>\n

Stroud and Richardson have performed well in exactly the way the Texans and Colts envisioned they would. Young has performed poorly in exactly the way the Panthers envisioned he wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Young was made the number one overall pick \u2014 and deemed worth two more first-round picks, a second-round pick, and DJ Moore \u2014 because of his creativity.<\/p>\n

Young was an elite playmaker at Alabama. In the pocket, he was passable, but a historically small passer whose projection to the pros was concerning. Out of the pocket, he was almost unstoppable \u2014 evading rushers, sensing the movement of defenders downfield, and delivering accurate throws on the move.<\/p>\n

Three starts into his NFL career, he\u2019s doing none of it.<\/p>\n

The Vikings blitzed Young throughout the four quarters on Sunday, and he had no answers. He took five sacks, and it would be difficult to attribute the Panthers\u2019 loss to anything else.<\/p>\n

All five came with less than 20 minutes left \u2014 the first became a scoop-and-score to give the Vikings the lead; the last two, taken after the two-minute warning as Carolina trailed by one possession, turned a second-and-goal from the 9-yard line into a turnover on downs at the 23.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a constant among all five, and, among all 11 sacks he\u2019s taken in his first three games \u2014 Young simply cannot evade incoming pass rushers. Of course, a free rusher is not his fault, and it\u2019s unfair to expect him to evade an unblocked safety a couple of seconds after the snap. But how defenders easily gobble up Young behind the line of scrimmage, as he puts the same moves on them as he did the defenders he dominated in college, is concerning.<\/p>\n

And, as the Panthers maybe should have expected, it\u2019s hard to outrun players when your legs are just shorter than everybody else\u2019s.<\/p>\n

There is no existing evidence that Young has exceptional NFL athleticism. And if he doesn\u2019t have the athleticism to create plays out of structure, there\u2019s little for anyone in Carolina to turn to.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just that Young is failing to create positive plays, he\u2019s failing to avoid negative plays, too. Through four weeks, Young has the worst expected points added<\/a> per play among the 32 starting quarterbacks, tied with Daniel Jones. The number, it should be noted, is -0.229, meaning he is costing his team almost a quarter of a point per play.<\/p>\n

So, there were the immediate snapshots on Sunday. Stroud and Richardson celebrating on the field, Young lost for words off of it.<\/p>\n

But, there was the bigger picture, too, which frames Stroud and Richardson delivering on their promise, their best qualities translating to the NFL game.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s Young, who doesn\u2019t look big enough for any of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Photo Courtesy of Darren Cummings\/AP) CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson are flying high, while Bryce Young is playing with clipped wings. What is making Stroud and Richardson such electric rookie passers, and what is going on with the number one overall pick? By Sam Robb O\u2019Hagan The snapshots from Week 4 in Houston, Indianapolis, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21477,"featured_media":38578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1024,1050,1035,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38577"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38588,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38577\/revisions\/38588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}