Panthers News: Frank Reich, Jaycee Horn, Bryce Young and Matt Rhule
By Dean Jones
Too early to judge Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young
Bryce Young's performances have come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks. There's been clear regression since the bye week, which is down to a lack of confidence in his pass-catchers and an offensive line that cannot seem to keep the big hits from coming.
Labeling Young as a bust so soon into his career is reactionary and lacks the necessary context. Something that was highlighted by James Foster from Prime Time Sports, who stated giving the No. 1 pick everything he needs to thrive and building around the signal-caller should see him become the franchise-caliber presence under center everyone hoped for when the Carolina Panthers made their daring move up the draft order.
"[Bryce] Young is not at all a bust. He has simply inherited the starting job of a team that never recovered from the end of its most successful era with both Ron Rivera and Cam Newton leaving the team in 2019. To get Young on track again, he needs game-changers in the backfield like what [Peyton] Manning and [Troy] Aikman had in [Edgerrin] James and [Emmitt] Smith. He also needs an offensive line that can keep him in the pocket long enough to actually get the ball out on time and not feel the need to rush around, take a sack, or make ill-advised throws. They only own six picks, with their first being No. 33 overall. It will be a challenge to overcome, but with smart drafting and free-agent pickups over the next few years, Young can absolutely progress into a star and the failures of this rookie season will feel like a bad dream."
- James Foster, Prime Tme Sports
That's not going to happen this season, obviously. Therefore, Young's got to come through the season unscathed on the injury front and hope the Panthers can make a better go of things from a recruitment standpoint in 2024.