Surprised. That’s how everyone feels after the finish of Bryce Young’s season. Bryce Young, the Carolina Panthers sophomore quarterback, 2023 first overall NFL draft pick, was benched after struggling early on in the season. Young won the Heisman award in 2021 and led the University of Alabama football team to a college football playoff championship win in 2020 and a runner-up performance in 2021. In his rookie season, Bryce Young had a disappointing 2-15 season and threw for 2,877 yards with a 11-10 touchdown-interception ratio. After starting 0-2 in the season and struggling to obtain first downs, Panthers head coach Dave Canales decided to bench Bryce Young for veteran quarterback Andy Dalton to “give [them] a better chance to win” (acc. to Dave Canales).
Young in his first two starts of his second year recorded 245 passing yards, 3 interceptions, and 0 passing touchdowns. His only touchdown came on the ground in week 1 against the New Orleans Saints. Alternatively, in week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders, Andy Dalton led the Carolina Panthers to their first victory of the season with 319 passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. They won the game 36-22. Andy Dalton continued to start, however, ahead of the week 8 matchup, starter Andy Dalton hurt his thumb in a car accident, leaving the Panthers having to turn back to Bryce Young for a week 8 matchup against the red hot Denver Broncos.
Young spent many weeks on the sideline learning from Andy Dalton, developing as a Quarterback and letting his strong Christian faith lead him. When asked how he felt coming into week 8, he said he was just blessed for the opportunity to start and will try his utmost best to try and win the game for Carolina. Young completed 24 passes for 37 throws with 224 passing yards, 2 touchdown passes. He did throw 2 interceptions, but both were amazing throws to his receivers, but the coverage downfield was strong. Panthers decided to roll with Bryce Young in order to give Andy Dalton more time to recover ahead of week 9 against the New Orleans Saints. For the first time during the season, Bryce Young was able to take a victory snap. Young led the Panthers to a 23-22 win over the Saints in week 9. He threw for 171 yards and 1 touchdown. His 1 interception was very unfortunate as the ball was thrown to wide receiver Xavier Legette which was stripped away by Saints defensive-back Shemar Jean-Charles. In week 10 against the struggling New York Giants, Young was again able to take a victory snap in the Germany games. Young threw 0 interceptions and recorded 126 passing yards and 1 touchdown. He also flashed his ability to run, recording 30 rushing yards in 2 attempts.
After a well earned bye-week, the Panthers were facing two very tough opponents, one of which being in week 11 against the 9-1 Kansas City Chiefs. Head-coach Dave Canales said the organization was going to roll with Bryce Young as starting quarterback. Against the Chiefs Young put up a strong performance throwing for 263 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions, and 20 rushing yards on 3 attempts. The Panthers once found themselves down 27-19. After an impressive 4th quarter 87-yard drive, the Panthers had tied it with a touchdown and a 2-point conversion. With 1:46 left in regulation, the Panthers had left too much time for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes, three-time superbowl champion and two-time MVP, was able to put the Chiefs in field-goal range. The Chiefs unfortunately won 30-27.
Week 12 was a heavy-weight battle against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both quarterbacks, Bryce Young and Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield both had incredible performances. Young threw for 298 yards and 1 touchdown with 0 interceptions. He was impressive on the ground as well with 1 rushing touchdown. The Panthers had a chance to get Bryce Young his third win of the season, however in overtime, when the Panthers were in field goal range in Buccaneers territory, Panthers running back Chubba Hubbard fumbled the ball, ultimately leading to a Tampa Bay game winning field goal, winning 30-27.
In the last stretch of the season, against the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals, and one more matchup against Tampa, Young put up 888 all-purpose yards (passing and rushing) and 8 total touchdowns (passing and rushing). These numbers may not be surprising, but are major improvements. The highlight to his season was yet to come. Bryce Young put up a masterclass performance against Michael Penix (Atlanta Falcons QB) and the Falcons. Fantasy football players all over the world were upset by people who decided to start Young. Young had accumulated 36.44 fantasy points in a PPR league. Moving onto stats, Young had 5 TOTAL TOUCHDOWNS and 275 all-purpose yards and 0 turnovers. Best performance by far in his NFL career.
After a strong finish to the season by Bryce Young, Panthers fans that had lost hope in Young, apologize to him. Carolina Panthers superfan, former Saugus Football linebacker, and senior has this to say about Bryce Young: “With confidence, better teammates, time, and of course Jesus, he is playing amazing! Time and experience is key and he looks a lot better than how he was before. 2025 to 2026 MVP!!!” When I reminded him about how he told me three months prior that Bryce Young is too small and is a bust, he had this to say: “I’m not going to lie to you, I for real gave up on Bryce. He has been proving me wrong for real. All the respect in the world for him, man I just hope he keeps it up. That’s all in his hands and the lord.”
Though the Panthers have a losing record under Bryce Young after coming back, Bryce Young is now proving to be a solid franchise quarterback, showing promise to the Carolina Panthers franchise’s future. The second stretch of the season when Young came back after sitting behind Andy Dalton, he started to look poised under pressure and make much smarter decisions. Fitting in tough throws and scrambling and running for big positive yardage really seemed to shine. Regardless of not making the playoffs, the organization is committed to providing Young with the best weapons and facilities possible to hopefully in a long-short, or couple of years, take a trip to the superbowl as this incredible feat was only accomplished twice, both resulting in losses with former MVP and phenom quarterback, Cam Newton. Bryce Young will continue to start for Carolina in the upcoming season and will be mentored by fellow quarterback Andy Dalton. Don’t look away from the Panthers next year as they will be a dangerous team with new additional developed players and a developed and future MVP quarterback, Bryce Young.
