Julian Mackool – Sports Staffer
Not even a year and a half into his young career, Bryce Young faces heavy criticism. Coming off his Heisman season and being the number one pick, there’s a lot of pressure to live up to. So far, Young has shown little to be desired. In his rookie year, he finished the season with 2,877 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, and completed 59.8% of his passes.
However, he had two different head coaches, one fired by Frank Reich. Young’s offensive line allowed 62 sacks, the 2nd most sacks to a rookie Quarterback in NFL history. During the offseason, the Panthers added three offensive linemen, a wide receiver, and a new head coach, Dave Canales, who was the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He helped lead them to the playoffs and aided in Baker Mayfield’s career revival. He was also the quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, where he helped revive Geno Smith’s career.
In 2024, Bryce Young hasn’t improved. He has 245 passing yards, zero touchdowns, and three interceptions. He’s completed 55.4 percent of his passes, the third worst in the league. His passer rating is 44.1, the worst in the league. The average passer rating this season is 90, making Young’s performance very underwhelming.
After a 0-2 start to the season, head coach Dave Canales decided to bench Bryce Young and start veteran quarterback Andy Dalton. Canales explained that he wanted to give his team the “best chance to win this week.”
In Week 3, the Panthers faced the 1-1 Las Vegas Raiders, who were coming off an upset win against the Baltimore Ravens in overtime. The Panthers were predicted to lose, but they pulled off their first win since November of 2023, defeating the Raiders 36-22. Dalton completed 70.7 percent of his passes, threw for 319 yards with three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
While Dalton’s success is based on a small sample size of one game, his experience is a key advantage over Bryce Young.
Young, as the No. 1 pick, has high expectations, but being the top pick often means stepping into the worst situation. For a quarterback to succeed, I believe 60 percent of the outcome depends on the situation they are placed in. So far in 2024, Young hasn’t looked good. However, sitting and learning from a veteran like Dalton, who has playoff experience, could help build his confidence. Many all-time great quarterbacks thrived by learning from the players who came before them and from their situations.
Many quarterbacks have been benched or didn’t start immediately before becoming great. Tom Brady learned from starter Drew Bledsoe, a solid quarterback who took the New England Patriots to a Super Bowl. Once Brady took over, he became the greatest of all time. Aaron Rodgers was drafted and sat behind Hall of Famer Brett Favre, not starting until his third season. He is now considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. More recently, Patrick Mahomes sat behind Pro Bowl quarterback Alex Smith for a year. Once he became the starter, Mahomes won three Super Bowls and two MVPs. Lamar Jackson sat behind Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco for most of his rookie year and played in a playoff game. Since then, he has won two MVPs.
If you draft a quarterback in the first round, you expect him to be a game-changer and make your team significantly better. However, it takes time and the right situation for a quarterback to become good or even great.
It’s far from over for Bryce Young, but the clock is ticking, and teams are impatient. If he doesn’t turn things around soon, or if the quarterback they could have taken—C.J. Stroud—continues to succeed, then Bryce Young’s career could be over before it began.
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