Bryce Young vs. C.J. Stroud: Who is the better prospect for the Panthers?

Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud are the best two quarterback prospects in this year’s NFL Draft. But which one is better for the Carolina Panthers?

In a draft class loaded with talent, the Carolina Panthers hold the No. 1 overall pick and will certainly be looking to take their franchise quarterback of the future. With appearances at the pro days of Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud, the rumors and speculation have seen a great uptick in recent weeks. 

Overall, only the Panthers brass truly knows who they will take. But which quarterback should they take?

While both prospects have their elite traits and talents that any team would covet, I wanted to take a look at who excels at what.

For this comparison, I’ll be referencing the "5 Most Important Traits for Quarterback Prospects" article from Medium.

Carolina Panthers must consider physical makeup

Even though the league has seen its fair share of players who play bigger than their vitals, it’s still something teams want to be cautious of. Height and weight don’t necessarily tell who a better player is but they can scare franchises away from choosing one player over another.

The NFL is an entirely different animal. Professional players are much bigger, faster, and stronger than their college counterparts.

With C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young, one is larger than the other, as the Alabama product's weight has received much scrutiny from draft analysts and the media. While size didn’t stop him from balling out in college, it does raise eyebrows how a player under 6-foot and 200 pounds will hold up in the league.

Young is one of the toughest players to ever play in college football. Despite his small stature, he was able to put up big-time numbers that eclipsed those of just about everybody during his career. 

Stroud, on the other hand, possesses the prototypical size for an NFL quarterback. At 6-foot-3 and almost 220 pounds, he has the ideal build teams look for in a signal-caller - certainly what Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich normally goes for - and thus he wins this round pretty easily.