The Carolina Panthers may have come into the season with a great deal of optimism surrounding former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young after his second-half resurgence at the tail end of 2024. After a Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, he is looking more like the player who appeared to be a lost cause following an early benching.
Against a very pedestrian Jaguars defense, Young completed just 51 percent of his passes, was intercepted twice, and fumbled the ball. His one touchdown pass came when the result of the game was already secured, etching this game firmly in the annals of the worst performances throughout his career.
Young is still trending more towards being a humongous bust than he is a franchise savior. Some teams are having more success running the ball than Carolina has been passing the ball, which should be a borderline disqualifying act. The Alabama product's yards per attempt show how rough things have gotten.
Bryce Young stat shows how pathetic Carolina Panthers offense has become
The Baltimore Ravens have gotten 6.2 yards per carry out of running back Derrick Henry over the last two seasons. Carolina, meanwhile, is managing just 5.8 yards per pass throughout the Young era. This level of play simply can't continue if head coach Dave Canales wants to avoid speculation about his future.
Young's supporters may claim that he is still not surrounded by the best cast of characters. The offensive line didn't hold up very well against Jacksonville, while WR2 Xavier Legette found himself once again making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
However, those excuses are starting to wear thin.
The offensive line is a good enough unit for a player like Young to effectively operate Canales' scheme from the pocket. New first-round pick Tetairoa McMillan looks to be as good as advertised, and the 1-2 punch of Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle represents a quality running back tandem.
The same issues that made Young such a poor player right out of the gate popped up against Jacksonville, namely his unwillingness to quickly get rid of the ball in the pocket and his penchant for throwing the ball up in harm's way. Canales may not be as patient as he was in past seasons.
With a few more stinkers like this one, a benching Young won't be able to recover from could be in his future.