Is There More Pressure To Succeed in the NFL on Bryce Young or Will Anderson? All Things CW

Oddsmakers have one former Crimson Tide player listed as a favorite to win a Rookie of the Year Award, but it's probably not the one you're thinking.

Alabama football came oh-so-close to having the first two selections in the 2023 NFL Draft, as quarterback Bryce Young went first and linebacker Will Anderson Jr. third over the weekend. 

Both of the teams that selected them traded up to acquire their rights, the Carolina Panthers dealing with the Chicago Bears back in March, and the Texans moved up at the last minute after selecting Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud at No. 2.  

The order of Stroud-Anderson selections was important because the quarterback would have to deal with a linebacker selected in the same draft making more during their initial four-year contracts, while he's probably the face of the franchise. It's a potential distraction that the Panthers avoided by making sure the quarterback was secured first. 

Regardless, for the first time in program history, the Crimson Tide had both the first offensive and defensive player selected in a draft. (Amazingly, it was the fourth time since 2000 that a pair of college teammates were chosen with top-three selections in the same NFL draft, but in none of the other three times were they the top offensive and defensive player selected). 

So obviously both Anderson and Young are favored to sweep the rookie of the year awards, especially since only a couple of the quarterbacks are expected to be Day 1 starters with their new teams, right? 

Not so fast. 

Per SI, Anderson is the clear favorite on the defensive side, as Houston's defense was pretty bad last season and he could be an immediate difference maker for new head coach and former Crimson Tide standout DeMeco Ryans. 

Odds for 2023 Rookie of the Year Awards

Defensive

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Will Anderson Jr. +350
Jalen Carter +800
Tyree Wilson +800
Christian Gonzalez +1000
Lukas Van Ness +1200
Emmanuel Forbes +1400
Nolan Smith +1600
Will McDonald IV +2000
Myles Murphy +2000
Joey Porter Jr. +2000
Jack Campbell +2000
Felix Anudike-Uzomah +2000
Drew Sanders +2000
Deonte Banks +2000
Brian Branch +2000

But offensive race looks a little different as Young is not considered the favorite.

It's former Texas running back Bijan Robinson, who is expected to be plugged into an Atlanta Falcons offense that could be very dangerous.

Robinson was the No. 8 pick of the draft.

Offensive

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Bijan Robinson 3/1
Bryce Young 9/2
Anthony Richardson 15/2
CJ Stroud 15/2
Jaxon Smith-Njigba 9/
Jahmyr Gibbs 12/1
Zay Flowers 12/1

While the 49ers, where Ryans was the defensive coordinator last season, led the league in fewest points allowed per game at 16.3, only five teams were worse than the three-win Texans at 24.7. The 379.5 yards allowed per game were only exceeded by the Vikings and Lions. 

Consequently, the pressure will be more on Anderson, at least initially,  because the expectation will be that he can immediately make the defense better, plus from what the Texans had to give up to get him — basically the same kind of package that's usually required to land a quarterback.  

Case in point: To get Young the Panthers had to trade the Bears their first-round pick at No. 9, a late-second-round selection (No. 61), a 2024 first-round pick and a 2025 second-round selection.

In order to take Anderson, the Texans gave up the No. 12 pick and an early second-round pick (No. 33) along with a first and third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Thats a lot for a linebacker, especially one who's considered a little undersized for the net level.

But we've seen that kind of trade for a former Crimson Tide position player work out well before, the famous Julio Jones deal in 2011. 

For the Falcons to move up to No. 6 and snare the future Hall of Fame wide receiver, they had to cough up to the Browns their first (No. 27 overall), second-, and fourth-round picks in 2011, as well as the first- and fourth-round picks in 2012.

So who did the Browns get with all that? 

The first pick ended up being traded away as part of a deal to move up and select Phil Taylor, a massive defensive tackle from Baylor, who played 44 games with the Browns. In the second round, they used the No. 59 pick to take North Carolina receiver Greg Little, who was suspended for his final college season after taking money from an agent. He played 48 games for Cleveland. The fourth-round selection was used on Stanford fullback Owen Marecic. He played 24 games over just two seasons. 

The first-round selection in 2012 was used to select Cleveland's quarterback of the future, Brandon Weeden out of Oklahoma State. The fourth-round pick in 2012 was packaged with the Browns selection at No. 4 to move up and take a running back you may have heard of, Trent Richardson. 

The All Things CW notes column by Christopher Walsh appears regularly on BamaCentral, with the latest on the Alabama Crimson Tide. 

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