Bryce Young will have the opportunity to face his idol, Tua Tagovailoa, in Week 6 of the NFL

Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young will face one of the biggest influences on his career on Sunday when he clashes with Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

The NFL Week 6 duel will pit two of the University of Alabama's most distinguished graduates face to face.

Young won the Heisman Trophy in 2021 and was the first overall pick in the 2023 Draft. Tagovailoa was the fifth overall pick in 2020 and was the first runner-up in Heisman voting in 2018.

In statements to international media, Young itted that if it had not been for Tagovailoa's influence, he would never have thought of ing the Crimson Tide. This decision was fundamental in his career.

Young had committed to start college with the USC Trojans. The Pac-12 conference style of offense, with its preference for the ing game, initially seduced the young signal-caller.

However, it was enough for Tagovailoa to begin to excel at Alabama under the guidance of head coach Nick Saban for Young to change his destination.

Bryce's arrival at "Bama"

Bryce arrived at Alabama in 2020, a year after Tua jumped to the professional gridiron.

Craig Young, the quarterback's father, itted that "The (Alabama's) brand of football, frankly, was boring." However, seeing what Tagovailoa and Saban accomplished with the team's offense"made us feel really good about going there."

"It was a big transition from when he (Tagovailoa) was there, just what the offense looked like and what Alabama moved to offensively,"Bryce explained, and then itted that "that was a big reason for me being there."

Another factor was how Saban adapted his offense to push a smaller er like Tagovailoa, who is 6-foot-1 and 227 pounds. Young is 5-10 and weighs 205.

Young Sr. explained that going to Alabama made sense to prepare Bryce for the professional circuit "and also to answer any of the questions about height and size that he still has to answer today."

Bryce is struggling in his NFL debut

After his brilliant time on the college circuit, Young has had a difficult start in professional football.

The young quarterbackmissed the Week 3 game against the Seattle Seahawks due to injury. Meanwhile, the Panthers have lost their first five games of the 2023 campaign, four of them with Bryce at quarterback.

Through his first four games, Young has completed 92 es in 144 attempts, with 750 yards gained, five touchdowns, and four interceptions.

Tagovailoa, in his fourth season as a professional, has the Dolphins with a 4-1 record and has completed 119 deliveries in 166 attempts, with 11 in the end zone and five interceptions.

In this regard, analyst Greg McElroy recalled that Tagovailoa only began to stand out until the Dolphins acquired receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

Likewise, Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow"was just a guy until they got Ja'Marr Chase. You can't play well now in the NFL without a really dynamicreceiving corps,"McElroy said.