Bryce Young has the league's attention after just four games. The Carolina Panthers are seeing significant growth from their quarterback in Year 4, and those unfortunate enough to face him so far have noticed.
Young just looks the part. He looks in complete control, is a more aggressive passer, and is visibly growing in confidence.
Nobody expected him to regress, but leading the league in passing yards through the opening four contests was the best pleasant surprise imaginable.
Bryce Young is making the NFL sit up and take notice during Carolina Panthers surge
There is a long way to go. But if Young keeps this up, his doubters will be firmly silenced.
The Panthers finally have everything around Young. They are missing some key men due to injury, but that hasn't impacted his ability to be highly productive. The Alabama product is leading from the front, and after a poor start to his NFL journey, everyone now firmly believes.
And sometimes, that's all a player like Young needs.
An unnamed coach who's faced Young this season perfectly depicted why he's made such impressive strides during a conversation with Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.
He said the improved rhythm Young is playing in has made a massive difference. Learning to be more efficient has also helped him grow, and he's becoming a player other defenses fear.
"He's playing more in rhythm. He's working through progressions. He's getting the ball out on time. The other thing I think he does extremely well compared to other shorter quarterbacks around the league is that he throws big in-breaks like daggers and digs extremely well and makes people pay with that.
"But with Bryce, you started to see him take a step last year and I just feel like he's now playing so efficiently, being more consistent and I've definitely seen growth from last year to this year."
That pretty much sums it up.
Bryce Young is silencing doubters as Carolina Panthers reap the rewards of patience
Young still has his critics, but they are getting hard to find and even harder to justify. More importantly, he is on pace to get paid, providing stability to a position that had been devoid of answers since Cam Newton's acrimonious first departure in 2020.
That's a long time to be without a franchise-caliber presence under center. But in Young, the Panthers have found their guy.
Respect has to be earned around the league. It would have been easy for Young to accept his fate after being benched two games into head coach Dave Canales' tenure. Instead, he fought back, which took guts and self-reflection.
Now, Young is reaping the rewards.
And if this is the start of things to come, the Panthers could be back in contention sooner rather than later.
Young's road to redemption has been a breath of fresh air. He's turned things up a notch this time around, displaying the poise and dynamic playmaking the Panthers envisioned when they gave up a king's ransom to take him at No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
It's taken longer than expected, and the road has been rockier than he'd have liked. But sometimes, it's not just about the destination.
The journey is also important.
Add us as a preferred source on Google