Bryce Young was drafted first overall in the 2024 NFL draft by the Panthers. His career, so far, has not lived up to the expectations of a typical first-round pick. The struggles in his rookie year and into his sophomore season led many to question his ability to play the position properly.
Young struggled right from the get-go in his career. He lost his first five games as a starter. In those games, he threw for six touchdowns and four interceptions, and averaged just 193.4 yards per game.
For rookies, those numbers aren’t bad. For a number one overall pick, however, there’s a certain expectation that needs to be met. More than just the numbers, the frame and style of play were concerning.
Young is 5’10, which is short for quarterbacks, so people were concerned if that was too much to overcome for him. Having success at that height is not impossible, as two quarterbacks come to mind. Russell Wilson and Drew Brees are 5’11 and 6’0 respectively, and are both likely to be Hall of Famers.
Both Wilson and Brees had special skill sets that overcame the height disadvantage. Wilson was elusive and had good improvisational skills, and Brees was deadly accurate. Young did not show signs of any unique abilities.
On top of that, Young has a very frail build, which sparked skepticism about his durability. Early struggles are alright if potential is shown here and there, but that wasn’t the case for him. His style of play was very bland.
Young’s rookie season ended with him throwing for 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, leading the Panthers to a 2-15 record. The ending of the season was brutal for him. Of his last seven games, he had six games with no passing touchdowns. People began to write him off.
It also didn’t help that CJ Stroud, the second pick, had one of the best rookie seasons of all time.
The struggles continued in his second year. Young played so poorly in his first two games of 2024 and got benched fr Andy Dalton. In the two games, he threw for no touchdowns and 3 interceptions. This looked to be the end for him.
A Dalton Thumb injury allowed Young to see the field again in week 10 vs the Denver Broncos. In that game, he threw for 224 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Against a top-ranked Broncos defense, he made some decent plays. It was a certain improvement from the early season.
Young would play the remainder of the season. In those final nine games, he threw for 13 touchdowns to just four interceptions. That itself is a big improvement from what he did a year ago.
More than just the numbers again, Young passed the eye test. He made off-schedule plays when his team needed them against elite teams like the Chiefs and Eagles. The Panthers lost both those games by one possession.
It was clear that Young’s confidence was rising week by week, and his week 18 performance was the perfect ending. In the season finale against the Falcons, Young had five total touchdowns, a career high, with a passer rating of 123.5.
The swagger was there. Young threw a pass to the end zone and then immediately turned around and celebrated. Seeing a Steph Curry-like look-away celebration from him is enough proof that the game is slowing down for this young man.
It’s still very early to tell if Young is franchise QB material. A few good games to end a season don’t mean he figured it all out, but at the end of the day. He’ improving. That is all a team can ask for.
This can be a lesson for teams moving forward. No matter how bad the early struggles are, the key is to be patient. Imagine the Panthers had shipped away Young to another team and he did what he did to end 2024 with another team. That’ the worst case scenario.
Give the quarterbacks a grace period and build properly around them. It’s damn hard to find one, don’t get rid of one thinking the grass will always be greener the year after. It’s not always the case.
Now the question for Young is, can he take even a bigger jump and make the Panthers a threat to reach the postseason?
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