Carolina Panthers Select Bryce Young No. 1 Overall
The Carolina Panthers have selected star quarterback Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
The historic selection marks the first time Alabama has produced a No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft since 1948 when the Washington then-Redskins selected halfback Harry Gilmer. That year, Harold Drew's unranked, 6-4-1 Crimson Tide produced one third of the first round selections.
in his time in Tuscaloosa, Young brought home a Heisman trophy, took Alabama to a College Football Playoff National Championship, and won the SEC Championship. He completed 65.8% of his passes for 8,356 yards, threw 80 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions, and only lost four games as a starting quarterback.
Many have asserted that Young covered glaring offensive deficiencies for Alabama in his two seasons starting and that the Tide would have been substantially worse off with almost anyone else at quarterback.
Young joins fellow Crimson Tide alumni Bradley Bozeman and Deonte Brown in Charlotte.
Young is walking into one of the most ideal situations a No. 1 overall pick quarterback can ask for. The Panthers traded up to get him, meaning he isn't going to a team that earned the draft pick via complete organizational ineptitude. The Panthers also displayed massive improvement on the defensive side of the ball after the firing of Matt Rhule and promotion of Steve Wilkes last season.
More important than any of that, though, is that the Panthers are returning all five starting offensive lineman, including Bozeman. They may lack prolific weapons on offense, but so did Alabama last season, and the worst thing for a young quarterback to go through is taking a bunch of sacks.