Since the turn of the decade, Alabama has quickly become a hub for producing excellent quarterbacks. Whether it’s been Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa or Mac Jones, all three had immense success while with the Crimson Tide and are poised to have long careers at the next level.
The next quarterback expected to join that group of elite careers is five-star recruit Bryce Young out of California. Since his signing with the Crimson Tide, there have been heavy amounts of hype surrounding the young quarterback with many believing he has the potential to be the best of the bunch.
One college football scout believes he has even another gear to him and compared his to college football great Johnny Manziel.
“Simply put, Bryce is a unique player at the quarterback position, unlike anybody Alabama has ever had play for the university,” Keith Smith of Showcase Football said during an appearance on In My Own Words. “But very similar to a guy that they probably had nightmares about, speaking of none other than Johnny Manziel, who came into Tuscaloosa and put an ‘L’ on that Roll Tide team a few years back. So Bryce Young is a unique talent and he’s gonna do special things without question in Tuscaloosa.”
If Alabama were to have the next Johnny Manziel on its hands, it would bode well for the Tide especially with the amount of success he had in the SEC and most notably against the Crimson Tide.
Smith wasn’t done drawing comparisons during his appearance on the podcast as he even connected Young’s game with one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL in Russell Wilson. But he even went a step further with his phrasing of the California native.
“His poise as a young player will stand out early to Alabama fans,” Smith said. “This is not a kid that gets rattled at any point in time. I’ve seen him up by 20, I’ve seen him down by 14 (he’s the) same player. Never gets too high, never gets too low just someone who’s absolutely personalized the quarterback position. You really never seen anything like it.
“I liken him to Russell Wilson on steroids.”
Comparisons such as these will only make Alabama’s upcoming spring game that much more anticipated to see what the future signal-caller for the Crimson Tide can do.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
