Sportsnaut
Offensive-minded head coach Dave Canales was supposed to help Bryce Young reach his full potential as a former No. 1 overall pick. Yet, now that he’s four games into his second season under coach Canales, the skeptics are starting to grow.
Young has had games with 154, 328, 121, and 150 passing yards this season and one of those performances is completely different from the others. Of course, the Panthers would prefer that the outlier be the games with 200 or fewer yards, but that’s simply not the case.
Instead, the Panthers have a quarterback who’s led them to a 7-25 record since 2023. He’s started 32 games but has averaged just 177.4 yards per game while having 31 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. Those numbers should be better for a franchise quarterback.
Now it’s gotten to the point where multiple NFL scouts no longer believe Young will turn his career around.
According to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, some scouts called Young’s performances “downright awful.” Another said, “I don’t think he’s the guy.”
The Panthers haven’t come to that realization yet, but we can’t imagine another losing season of Young putting up the same numbers would help. Still just 24 years old, it feels too early for a team to throw in the towel on Young’s career, but perhaps a change of scenery could help him reach his ceiling.
Of course, we’ve seen several other former first-round picks whose teams had given up on them thrive in later chapters of their career. Maybe Young can become the next, but the Panthers would much rather see him succeed in Carolina than anywhere else.
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