The National Football League is filled with massive athletes, big uglies, mountain men (you get the point). It’s generally not a league for smaller athletes, and that’s been especially true at the most important position on the field, quarterback.
When we think of the great field generals, we think of big pocket passers like Peyton Manning (6’5” and 230 pounds) or Dan Marino (6’4” and 224 pounds). The list goes on and on, and it rarely includes quarterbacks who are under six feet tall.
While some players have found success at 5’11” or 6’ tall -- like Drew Brees, Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray -- they’ve been the historical exception to the rule. In fact, Brees, Wilson and Murray are among just a handful of quarterbacks who have found success at six feet tall or shorter. Believe it or not, that trio and Michael Vick make up the top 21 best fantasy seasons for field generals at that height and regardless of their weight (we’ll talk more about weight later in this article).
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In all, just eight quarterbacks at 6’ or shorter have scored more than 200 fantasy points in a single season in the Super Bowl era. The most prominent are Brees, who did it 17 times, and Wilson, who has scored 200-plus points 11 times.
These stats and facts are of great interest to NFL and fantasy fans this season, because the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, Bryce Young, is smaller than that duo … and every other quarterback who has ever been drafted No. 1 overall.
Far be it for me to discriminate because of a person’s height, as I come in at 5’8” (on the generous side), but I also don’t play professional sports (no less the quarterback position). Young enters the league at just 5’10”. Heck, even Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells told The Athletic that the Alabama quarterback “better walk on water” at the next level because of his diminutive stature.
If the lack of success of players at 6’ and under doesn’t scare you, well, you’ll be hiding under your covers when you see the numbers of those field generals who are under 6’ and 205 pounds or lighter. Young, who weighed in at 204 at the NFL Scouting Combine, is relatively light (maybe an understatement) in the NFL.
During the Super Bowl era, quarterbacks at 6’ or less and 205 pounds or less have scored over 200 fantasy points in a season 11 times. Joe Theismann did it four times, Fran Tarkenton did it four times, Sonny Jurgensen did it twice and Doug Flutie once.
That’s it.
Theismann and Jurgensen are the lone quarterbacks in that group to throw for more than 3,500 yards since 1966. That duo, along with Tarkenton and Len Dawson, are the lone signal-callers to throw 25 or more touchdowns.
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As you can see, Young has his work cut out for him based on the historical data we have on smaller quarterbacks. He also has another disadvantage in that he isn’t a runner. When players like Tarkenton, Flutie or Theismann got in trouble, they had the mobility to make plays with their feet. Young never really showed that in college. In fact, he rushed for just 162 yards in 34 games at Alabama. That’s 4.8 yards per game. Last season, he rushed for 100 yards on five carries in a Week 1 win over Utah State. Young would go on to rush for just 85 yards in the remaining 11 games combined. And at 204 pounds, Young isn’t going to break many tackles, either.
On a positive note, Young was obviously considered the best quarterback prospect in this class. He has great football instincts, keeps his eyes downfield and was a winning quarterback at an SEC school against high-end collegiate talent.
Young’s supporters will also harken back to the 2021 SEC Championship Game against Georgia, when he threw for 421 yards and three touchdowns while adding another 40 yards and a touchdown as a runner. That’s one of the best performances of his career, and it certainly would have resulted in a ton of fantasy points.
It should also be noted that a mere 14 quarterbacks have started 10 or more games at 6’ or shorter and 205 pounds or lighter since 1966, according to Pro Football Reference. Just 36 at that height and weight have started one game and a mere 47 have even appeared in an NFL game. But there’s another point in that data, too: Most players at that size aren’t considered big enough to be a professional quarterback.
Maybe Young will be an exception to the rule. Maybe he can follow in the footsteps of guys like Brees, Wilson and Murray, who were all 6’ or shorter. But if NFL history is an indication, he has a tall mountain to climb to find fantasy success.
