Before Bryce Young was juking out defenders in the backfield, he was doing the same thing in the backcourt. The secret to the Alabama quarterback’s uncanny ability to distribute passes under pressure comes from his days as a point guard.
The next time you watch Young, ignore the helmet, shoulder pads and 250-pound defenders charging his way. Instead, focus on his movements and the steps he takes to create open space.
Take his third-and-3 conversion during the fourth quarter of Alabama’s game against Florida for example. Receiving the snap out of the shotgun, Young quickly found himself in a one-on-one situation with Gators linebacker Mohamoud Diabate who had a free run into the backfield. Cocking his arm to his right, the quarterback baited the blitzing defender before crossing him over to the left. From there, Young shoveled the ball on the run to an open Cameron Latu for a crucial first down.
The play resembled a move from the And1 Mixtape Tour rather than something you’d see on a typical SEC Saturday.
“He plays the game like he's playing basketball,” said Danny Hernandez, Young’s former quarterback coach at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles. “He's going to find certain angles, and he’s so good at anticipating. It really is like he’s a good point guard out there. Just watch the way he moves. He knows how to change his arm slot if needed, how to speed up in an area, if needed, slow down in an area, if needed, doing all those things that a really good point guard would do.”
Hernandez started working with Young during the quarterback’s sixth-grade year. Training as many as six days a week, the two spent countless hours picking apart the passer’s throwing motions along with fine-tuning every aspect of his approach on the field. Hernandez, who has also worked with Clemson’s D.J. Uiagalelei among several other college quarterbacks, says he’s spent more time training with Young than any of his previous passers.
“And when you work as much as we did,” he chuckled, “you kind of start running out of things to do.”
That’s when Hernandez decided to get creative.
Growing up, Young was a multi-sport athlete, competing on high-level AAU basketball teams in addition to his time on the football field. Due to the quarterback’s hectic schedule, he’d often come to Hernandez directly after basketball workouts. Soon, the skills from those sessions began to intermingle.
Seeing how comfortable Young was at delivering off-balanced throws, Hernandez figured he’d implement some of the quarterback’s basketball moves into his training. The techniques paired better than you might imagine.
Think of a retreat step in basketball, when a player pushes off their lead foot to create more space from the defender for a shot. Now imagine Young doing the same thing in the pocket as he buys extra time with his feet. The only difference is instead of pulling up for a fade-away jumper, he’s rearing back to deliver a pass.
“We would work a lot on his movement by putting him in awkward situations during drills,” Hernandez said. “I’d post some on social media, and some people would ask me, ‘What is he doing?’ We had our little saying of ‘Hey man, we’re just hooping.’”
Basketball also taught Young the importance of keeping his eyes up at all times. On the court, the point guard was always taught to scan the defense for potential angles and openings. It was only natural that he adopted the same approach behind center, keeping his eyes peeled for open receivers after eluding defenders.
Young’s unselfish nature dates back to his youth football days. Often forced to deal with makeshift offensive lines at a young age, the quarterback was drilled by his father to always look downfield rather than taking the easy option on the ground.
Craig Young had watched as several running quarterbacks limited their playing lifespan by taking unnecessary hits. He was also aware of the stigma unfairly set on African American quarterbacks, who were often labeled as runners rather than throwers. Not wanting his son to be pigeon-holed as a one-dimensional player, he made sure Bryce got in the habit of going through his progressions on every play.
“The quarterback’s job is to put the ball into the hands of the playmakers and let them do what they do best,” Craig said. “Wide receivers and running backs are usually better runners than quarterbacks, and quarterbacks are better throwers. So it makes sense to get the ball in those players’ hands.
“And I never wanted him to be labeled as a running or dual-threat quarterback or any of those quoted languages they sometimes use for athletic quarterbacks. I never wanted to stunt his growth as a quarterback by bailing out and just running.”
The term “dual-threat” often strikes the wrong chord in the Young camp. Craig rolls his eyes at the fact that his son is rated as the No. 1 “dual-threat” quarterback in the 2020 class by Rivals. After all, Bryce is also the top overall quarterback, coming in a spot ahead of Uiagalelei, who was labeled as the top pro-style passer. It’s not that Bryce doesn’t present dual-threat qualities, the term just tends to bring a limited connotation.
While Bryce has always been able to make defenders miss with his legs, running the football has never been his focus. Instead, he grew up modeling his game after Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, concerning himself more with the ability to change arm angles and throw off multiple platforms.
“He’s mastered throwing the ball,” Bryce said when asked about Rodgers this week on The Bryce Young Podcast. “In my opinion, he’s the most gifted physical passer ever. A lot of the throws he’s been able to make, he makes throws that I don’t think really anyone could ever make. … I’m definitely a big fan.”
Much to his delight, Bryce was recently compared to his idol by SEC Network analyst Jordan Rodgers, Aaron’s brother, who likened the two quarterbacks to one another during last week’s telecast of the game against Southern Miss. Thursday, Jordan expanded on his comments, stating the way Bryce’s mechanics and the way he creates torque with his lower body is “damn near identical” to his older brother.
Jordan also shied away from putting the dual-threat label on Bryce, emphasizing his arm as the biggest weapon he brings to the field.
“I think of a dual-threat quarterback as a guy who’s really dangerous with his legs,” Rogers said. “Bryce is really dangerous with his pocket mobility and his ability to keep his eyes downfield. Yeah, he can pick up some yards here and there, but he’s most dangerous buying time in the pocket, escaping the pocket, then hitting you with the big play downfield.”
Bryce has always been a pass-first quarterback, but Hernandez points to the offseason before his sophomore season as his biggest period of growth. Breaking down the tape of his freshman year, Bryce’s main self-critique was that he was relying too much on his athleticism. While that usually resulted in positive plays, the quarterback could see he was leaving a lot of yards on the table.
“That was the biggest thing he’d talk to me about,” Hernandez said. “He’d make someone miss and as soon as someone wasn’t open he’d start running. That offseason he realized, ‘Man, I'm really good at making guys miss. Let me make somebody miss and now try to beat guys with my arm.’”
The following season, Bryce broke onto the scene, passing for 3,431 yards and 41 touchdowns with just two interceptions while leading Cathedral to a 10-2 record. He also added 287 yards and eight more scores on the ground, but it was clear his focus was on becoming a better distributor.
“He was still making people miss, but instead of tucking it, he was making it a point to find people downfield,” Hernandez said. “It was all about reading the defense and seeing that opening to make a big play, recognizing, ‘If I do this, the defender is going to end up there. Then, boom! I got you.’
“He got really good at his fakes and making sure not to fake defenders too soon. Bryce is very good at making that movement at the very last second, almost like a matador would with his cape. He trusts his vision, and he has that quick-twitch ability to olé a defender at the last second to make a throw.”
During his first season as Alabama’s starter, Bryce has put that ability on full display. Through four games, the sophomore has completed 72.1 percent of his passes for 1,126 yards and is tied for the SEC lead with 15 passing touchdowns to go with one interception. His 188.97 passer rating also leads the conference while ranking fifth nationally.
Bryce has been especially productive when hurried by defenders. According to Pro Football Focus, he leads the nation with seven passing touchdowns under pressure and boasts a sterling 128.5 NFL passer rating on his 49 pressured dropbacks.
Bryce has been praised several times for his poise under pressure this season. Although when asked this week to describe his mindset under duress, he said his decisions often come down to repetition at practice and trusting the preparation passed down to him by coaching staff that week.
“Whenever we get whatever look we get,” Bryce said, “your mind just goes to the practice reps and the reps from film and trying to figure out the answer.”
That trust goes both ways.
Hernandez noted that there were times where Bryce’s pass-first tendencies sometimes saw him pass up potential big plays on the ground. However, he quickly learned that believing in his quarterback’s decision-making generally led to good results.
“I think the thing with Bryce was trusting him to almost do what he felt was best,” Hernandez said. “I think a lot of that, you got to have trust there for a kid at that point and that trust is going to be there when you know the kid is preparing the way he is. You always know with Bryce that he’s going to prepare more than anybody else. So when it comes time for him to make those kinds of decisions, he’s going to make the right call.”
Haunted by his debatable dual-threat classification Bryce has come under a bit of criticism as some have questioned his lack of rushing production this season. Excluding sacks and intentional grounding penalties, the quarterback has attempted just four runs resulting in 24 yards.
To Nick Saban’s credit, he’s had his quarterback’s back the whole time.
Following the game against Florida, several Alabama fans took issue with Bryce’s decision to pass on a second-and-goal rollout from the 1-yard line. Looking back, it appeared as though the quarterback might have been able to tuck the ball and run for a score. Instead, the pass went for an incompletion, and Alabama was forced to settle for a field goal two plays later.
Saban was quick to bite back against the criticism during his radio show the following week, praising Bryce’s decision-making throughout the season while pointing out that hindsight is often 20/20.
“We don’t have a third-base coach in football that tells the batter to take, bunt or steal every play,” he quipped. “Some of these things are instinctive.”
This week, Saban explained his trust in his quarterback, stating that his belief in Bryce is backed up by his accountability both on and off the field.
“That’s how you develop respect for someone as a competitor and as a player,” Saban said. “And then when they do that over time, that’s what you develop trust that the guy’s going to do what he’s supposed to do because he’s done it over and over and over again.”
Much like the steady dribble of a basketball, that constant pursuit of perfection beats on in Bryce’s mind. It’s that preparation that ensures he’ll be ready whenever it’s time to take his shot.
