A Different Perspective on the Young vs Stroud Decision

[Matthias]

So I mentioned this in another thread, and I'm interested if others feel the same way.  Depending on who we choose, which one could you live with if he turns out to be a bust for us, and the other goes on to have a prolific career?  I know many of us have said they are cool with either Stroud or Young.  A can't lose situation.  However, it's possible one of these guys could have a bad career, or have an injury prone career.  It's also possible both these guys could be busters.  Ultimately, if we pick Stroud and he plummets, while Young goes to multiple pro bowls, could you live with the decision that we went Stroud?  Vice versa, if we pick Young and he folds, while Stroud goes on to rack up all-pros, would you be fine with it?

Now, obviously it would suck if the scenario happens for us.  Yet my greatest fear would be drafting Young and he bombs, while Stroud gets the accolades.  Some might ask me why I could live with Stroud being a dud?  Of course it's obvious why.  Young may have playmaking potential, and he can play from the pocket, but there is a risk with his size. That risk if you ask me, includes health and performance.  Stroud is the cookie cutter QB here.  He is the natural passer.  Throwing the ball for him is effortless.  To me, this effortlessness is HUGE!  A skill like that is pure gold in my sight.  I know folks call Young the mini-Mahomes in that he can extend and make plays.  That's great, but I actually prefer the business aspect of dissecting defenses with quick accurate throws.  Give me the Drew Brees style of play.  Give me the Tom Brady style.  I'm good with Stroud's ability to potentially give me that.  I can die on that sword.

So fess up people!  Lets talk some real -ish here!  None of that "I'm good with both" stuff!!!!!  Which one could you live with should he fizzle out?

 

[tukafan21]

This is really easy for me, Young has the most obvious and biggest negative on either players scouting report.

If we draft him and his size is an issue and Stroud is a great player, we’ll be idiots for taking that risk with an equally talented option available.

[Matthias]

When I think about it some more, I feel Stroud is more likely to give me Brees/Brady, than Young will give me Mahomes.

[Jackie Lee]

46 minutes ago, Matthias said:

When I think about it some more, I feel Stroud is more likely to give me Brees/Brady, than Young will give me Mahomes.

I"m still trying to figure out Young's floor if his game doesn't translate. I was looking at PJ but PJ has a better arm. Maybe if Russ was 20 pounds lighter?

[top dawg]

For me it's obvious. I will be pissed if Young plays like a smaller version of Mahomes---lights the league on fire---notwithstanding his size, and Stroud is Kirk Cousins on his best day. We'll look like idiots for years.

[jfra78]

1 hour ago, Matthias said:

When I think about it some more, I feel Stroud is more likely to give me Brees/Brady, than Young will give me Mahomes.

Exactly.  Both weren't good if you could get pressure, but their time to throw was so fast you couldn't get to them often

[jfra78]

15 minutes ago, top dawg said:

For me it's obvious. I will be pissed if Young plays like a smaller version of Mahomes---lights the league on fire---notwithstanding his size, and Stroud is Kirk Cousins on his best day. We'll look like idiots for years.

So you would be okay if Stroud became the next Brady or Brees, and Young was out of the league in 3 years? That would mean we chose to ignore all the warning signs

[CarolinaRideorDie]

I watched hours of draft analysts compare Young and Stroud. The biggest take away and I agree with their assessment is that Young is the better qb and if he was taller/bigger there wouldn’t even be a discuss about who is going first, that’s how good Young’s skill set is to even be considered #1 overall. Stroud is a great prospect and he gives me Dak Prescott vibes. He is mobile enough, a great passer, puts up great stats and numbers with good talent around him but he seems to lack the “it” factor like mahomes or Brady. I think Young has the “it” factor. 
 

The goal is to win super bowls not just make playoffs yearly. Would we be happy and settle for Dak production or go all in for Mahomes-lite,  prime Russell Wilson when he won a Super Bowl? For me, it’s clear that my choice is Young, he has shown and proven that he is clutch in big games and has done more with less supporting cast. Stroud has won a lot of games but Ohio state always blew out a lot of their competition. I would support Stroud if he was the pick but actually disappointed if it wasn’t Young. 

[bababoey]

I don't get the whole "Young is the Mahomes light" idea.  Mahomes is a purple unicorn.  He can run around all over the place get hit and still make perfect throws because he has an arm that maybe only 1 other guy in the NFL has right now.  It's a cannon.  Young has no where near that kind of arm.  The main reason that Mahomes can make those is because he has that arm.  Young does not have anywhere near that kind of arm, it's not a bad arm it is just average, and people think he is going to be able to do the same things.  

When Young reads the defense and throws on time he is as good as any QB in this class but when he makes plays off schedule he looks great,  in college.  What happens when he can't make off schedule plays in the NFL.  He will still be good but he won't be what everyone thinks he is now. 

If he was his size and had a Allen/Mahomes arm I could see him making those off schedule plays in the NFL.  Or if he was 215 lb and had his current arm strength I could see him doing it.  But at his size and his arm strength I just don't see it.

[top dawg]

5 hours ago, jfra78 said:

So you would be okay if Stroud became the next Brady or Brees, and Young was out of the league in 3 years? That would mean we chose to ignore all the warning signs

"All the warning signs?" Come on, man. The only reason there is even a discussion about Young vs Stroud is Young's size. If he were 20 pounds heavier there wouldn't even be a  discussion. I find it ironic that both QBs missed a full game in college due to the exact same injury, Stroud technically played through an additional leg injury, and Young played like three more games during that time in the SEC---oh, and picked up a Heisman along the way, and you are referring to "all the warning signs." I admit, some NFL types may project injuries due to his stature, and if they want to consider his size a "warning sign," not "signs," then they have the (what's now considered"acceptable") right to do so, but if he size proves not to be the issue that those making the injury projections are making, and Young becomes the winner that he did in college on the pro level in the NFL, woe to the franchise(s) that skipped on him. Then pundits will be saying, "You saw what he did in college. He was obviously the best QB in his class, but you skipped over him [blah blah blah]..." 

So now the Huddle is comparing Stroud to Brees or Brady...? And, no, the Young comparison to Mahomes didn't originate on a football message board...

I'm sure there's some Hyperbolic Herb (yeah, I just made that up) somewhere that really thinks Young may be out of the league in three years, but don't be that guy.

Lastly, my response is solely for the question at hand. We will look like big dummies if we skip over Young and he hits his ceiling and Stroud is just kinda good.

Edited April 5, 2023 by top dawg

[Khaki Lackey]

If we take Stoud and he doesn’t pan out, I would say, “Damn, he had all the tools. Oh well, some things just can’t be predicted. It sucks that we finally got a QB that had great size and mechanics and just couldn’t get it together.”

Conversely, if we take Young and he flamed out, I would think, “How could we ignore historically bad measurables?” I would think Fitts isn’t a great judge of college to NFL talent and made the decision based on (as the huddle currently likes to say) “IT” factor, and obviously doesn’t have a great feel for how important that is.

In short, Stroud busts = sucks, but unexpected.

Young busts = Should have known, Fitts gotta go.

(For the record, if we draft Young, I’ll be a fan and hope they know way more than I do.)

[mrcompletely11]

1 minute ago, Khaki Lackey said:

If we take Stoud and he doesn’t pan out, I would say, “Damn, he had all the tools. Oh well, some things just can’t be predicted. It sucks that we finally got a QB that had great size and mechanics and just couldn’t get it together.”

Conversely, if we take Young and he flamed out, I would think, “How could we ignore historically bad measurables?” I would think Fitts isn’t a great judge of college to NFL talent and made the decision based on (as the huddle currently likes to say) “IT” factor, and obviously doesn’t have a great feel for how important that is.

In short, Stroud busts = sucks, but unexpected.

Young busts = Should have known, Fitts gotta go.

(For the record, if we draft Young, I’ll be a fan and hope they know way more than I do.)

Yep. If we draft young we are asking him to do something that has never been done in the modern nfl era.  If he fails that’s completely on us.  The warning signs are staring us in the face and it’s never going to be corrected   IMO that is just way too much of a risk to be saddling this franchise with. 

[top dawg]

To be clear, I couldn't accept this scenario period, regardless of which QB that we pick. At least I wouldn't be happy with it.  They need to get this right! Nobody's perfect, but that's what they're paid to do (to get this right).

Edited April 5, 2023 by top dawg

[ForJimmy]

I would love to have the next Mahomes, but the only QBs with his arm strength this year are Levis and AR. Mahomes has one of the best arms in the league and I feel like it’s much harder to find a QB who can play his style of football at the next level. Quick read precision passers seem like they could be easier to find. To be honest though any QB we pass on that looks great while our QB struggles is going to make most of us (including myself) complain.