Bryce Young has not quarterbacked the best offenses Alabama has ever had. Not by a long shot. There have by times throughout the career of Young as the starting quarterback at Alabama in which the offense has looked porous, uncreative, and even lost at times. Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones both led more productive offenses at The Capstone.
But when you ask yourself who the greatest quarterback to ever play at Alabama for Nick Saban is, the answer goes way beyond the numbers. The answer is unequivocally Bryce Young. And in terms of sheer talent and ability to play the position, it really isn’t close.
Here’s the thing with Bryce that doesn’t apply to any other quarterback that has had success under Nick Saban at Alabama. And the Texas game is a perfect example. Alabama asks Bryce Young to WIN them games. Mac Jones was the commander of the greatest offense perhaps in college football history. But at no point in 2020 did the offense face any real adversity, mostly due to the fact that they were unbelievably loaded with weapons and along the line. Not to mention the best offensive coordinator in Alabama history.
Outside of the Texas game, the Iron Bowl last season is another great example. Jameson Williams went out of the game, the offense was completely broken the whole game, and everything looked lost in a must-win game at Jordan-Hare. But Bryce Young led the Tide on a 98 yard drive to tie the game and send it to OT where they were able to win and keep their season alive.
Bryce Young puts the offense on his back and carries the Tide to victory like no quarterback who has ever played at Alabama. Bill O’Brien, while he does not have the talent that Steve Sarkisian had to work with, is nowhere near the play caller that Sarkisian was, and the personnel that Alabama has around Young is nowhere near what the only other two quarterbacks who have an argument had (Tagovailoa and Jones).
To be clear, this is not a stat sheet argument. Alabama’s offense last year or this year will never touch some of the numbers that we’ve seen Tide offenses put up over the last several years. But one thing is clear when you watch Bryce Young on a 2 minute drill at the end of the game, no matter how poorly the game has gone: The guy just has it.
What exactly “it” is can’t even be put into words. Even Nick Saban himself couldn’t put it into words. But one thing is for certain with this Alabama team: as long as Bryce Young is on the field, this team has a shot against anyone, even when things are going as poorly as they were on Saturday.