Alabama’s football program is so accomplished that it’s not easy making history.
But Bryce Young makes everything look easy.
A quick release. Mobility. Arm talent. Alabama’s sophomore quarterback possesses each of those qualities. But when we reflect on Young’s 2021 season, one trait rises above the rest.
He’s utterly unflappable.
That’s how he made history.
Young became the first Alabama quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy, presented Saturday in New York.
Move aside, Oklahoma. Alabama is now Quarterback U.
When Nick Saban launched this Alabama dynasty more than a decade ago, Crimson Tide quarterbacks weren’t asked to carry the team. Alabama won its first few titles under Saban on the backs of unyielding defenses, relentless ground games and quarterbacks who – if unspectacular – limited mistakes.
EXCLUSIVE: Alabama football’s Bryce Young shares journey from Cali kid to Heisman Trophy winner
BRYCE YOUNG WINS: Alabama football QB Bryce Young wins Heisman Trophy
A.J. McCarron was the best from this mold, and by the end of his career, the term “game manager” provided insufficient praise to McCarron’s passing ability. In 2013, he became Alabama’s first quarterback to finish as a Heisman runner-up.
But Alabama’s evolution into a quarterback-driven offense didn’t begin in earnest until Jalen Hurts became a freshman starter in 2016. A dual threat, Hurts possessed abilities his predecessors didn’t. Then five-star Tua Tagovailoa arrived and became a passer unlike any Alabama had seen. He was so good he pulled the starting job away from Hurts, and in 2018, Tagovailoa compiled the best season ever by an Alabama quarterback and placed second for the Heisman.
Tagovailoa’s 2018 season lasted atop Alabama’s chart for all of two seasons before Mac Jones rewrote the record books last season.
Hurts became a…
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