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Carolina Panthers' One Big Question: What Can We Expect From Bryce Young in Year 3?

   

Bryce Young finally became the quarterback the Carolina Panthers needed in 2024. What will he look like in 2025?

In this offseason series, Athlon Sports' Doug Farrar asks the One Big Question for every NFL team that will become readily apparent when the season does begin, and the lights are at their brightest. We continue with the Carolina Panthers, who now have the quarterback in Bryce Young they hoped when they took him first overall in the 2023 NFL draft. Now that Young has exorcised his early demons, what can he be in Year 3?

The thing about quarterback development is that it's rarely linear, and it's usually far from immediate. For every Jayden Daniels that comes in and takes the NFL by storm right away, there are far more guys who need time to get with the speed and complexity of the league, and all that entails.

That was certainly true for Alabama's Bryce Young, whose remarkable collegiate career had the Carolina Panthers selecting him with the first overall pick in the 2023 draft. Young's first season was not an implosion-style disaster, but he completed just 59.8% of his passes, and threw nearly as many interceptions (10) as touchdowns (11). The Panthers finished 2-15 on the season, and everybody knew that change was afoot.

Fresh off his time helping Geno Smith in Seattle and Baker Mayfield in Tampa resuscitate their careers as a rising quarterbacks coach, passing game coordinator, and offensive coordinator, Dave Canales was hired on January 25, 2024 to help Young find the answers to the test.

Early on, it wasn't happening. In his first two 2024 games, Young completed 55.4% of his passes, threw no touchdowns to three interceptions, took six sacks, and was benched in favor of veteran Andy Dalton. At this point, Young was on the unfortunate path to bustitude, and nobody knew if he could turn it around — even with Canales' help.

When he returned in Week 7, Young looked like a completely different quarterback. He was less flinchy and likely to bail the pocket when pressured, his performances against the blitz were better, and he was in command of the offense in ways he hadn't been before. Most importantly, what Young saw on the field slowed down in his head.

A key turning point came in Week 12 against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. The Panthers lost, 30-27, but Young continued to show his development, and the guys on the other sideline took notice. Most young quarterbacks don't get the chance to show off against a Steve Spagnuolo-led defense, but Young was responsible for several explosive plays.

"I think he did a heck of a job," Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who knows a few things about developing quarterbacks, said postgame. "Well-coached. He's lucky to have that redhead over there, No. 14 [Dalton], too, to help him out. Nothing like a veteran player that kind of sees it the same way you do. Then, he's very talented, and the organization made a nice move by taking him."

Patrick Mahomes has known about Young for quite a while — he went back to his Texas Tech days after the Chiefs' narrow escape.

"I thought he played his tail off," Mahomes said of Young. "He throws a really good football. I think Texas Tech was the first one to offer him when he was in eighth grade, and I was at Texas Tech. I remember watching his highlight tapes then. Knew he was going to be a great player, and obviously went to 'Bama and was the first draft pick. It's been cool to see him bounce back the last few weeks and play some great football. I know he has it, because I've seen it for a long time. He gave us a scare today because he played his tail off."

In his last three games of the 2024 season, Young completed 57 of 88 passes for 612 yards, seven touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 111.6, which made him one of the best and most efficient players at his position in the NFL. And in his final regular season game in 2024 against the same Atlanta Falcons that bowled him over in his rookie debut, Young completed 25 of 34 passes for 251 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 123.5.

 

This was not at all the same quarterback who looked completely overwhelmed against those Falcons in 2023 when he threw two interceptions to safety Jessie Bates III on the same concept, and against the same basic defense. At that point, even a converging safety seemed too much for Young to handle.

“He was outstanding," Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said of Young following the rematch. "He was able to manipulate the pocket, move around in the pocket, find people down the field. They were able to run the football, stay on track. They were able to keep us out of the get- back-on-track situations. They were able to keep a normal D and D [down and distance]. Really able to manipulate everything he was able to do in the pocket. We couldn't tackle him. When we got back there and got to him, couldn't get him on the ground. Couldn't find a way to find him. Then down the field he made some really good big-time throws: the Cover 2 on first-and-25. He made a throw on the sideline that was lights out. He made a couple throws down the field that were really good across the board. But to end the game there in the overtime, he made a really good throw.

"He made throws all day. He made plays all day. He had some schemed-up plays. Way too many wide-open people. A couple of schemed up plays with some gimmicks that they got us with early. Explosive in the first half. In the second half, he continued to go out there and wheel and deal. He was absolutely lights out, particularly on third down, and when it came to moving the chains.”

Now, opponents are on notice. The rookie expectations and subsequent disappointments are in the rear view. Young is no longer in danger of another benching, and he got past the week-to-week designation pretty quickly. It's all about Young's command of the offense, and what that allows Canales and his staff to accomplish.

"Just toughness," Canales said at the scouting combine in February, when asked what Young showed him, and how he progressed. "Mental toughness, emotional toughness, physical toughness. He took some good shots there and showed he can just stand in there and play good football. Watching the weekly progression of it, that's kind of what we talked about a little bit there was watching as we finished, each week there was improvement. Each week there was improvement, and if you can imagine if you could just get one week better for a long time, how good you could become.

"I've got a lot of excitement [and] a lot of appreciation for the way that Bryce took a leadership role in this too and really made statements to his teammates in that locker room, you could feel that respect, I'm sure all of you [saw it] if you were around the team. The guys started to feel that like this guy is real, and so I am excited to go into this offseason knowing we have this quarterback, now let's start building this team and let's become the 2025 Panthers."

The 2024 Panthers ascended a bit to 5-12 with Young's improvements, and they're now hoping for more. The addition of eighth overall pick Tetairoa McMillan to a receiver corps that already included Xavier Legette, Adam Thielen, David Moore, and Jalen Coker — not to mention tight ends Ja'Tavion Sanders and Tommy Tremble — puts Young in a better place, as does a full year in Canales' offense.

“Yeah, definitely a blessing," Young eventually concluded when asked about the journey so far. "You know, this year has definitely been a year not like I've ever had before, but God doesn't make mistakes. I'm super grateful for just the path he had me on. For me, it's super encouraging. Yeah, in the offseason, still going to look at stuff to improve on, obviously as a team, you know, we're not where we want to be right now. You know, it was a great day and it proves what we can do. We have to be consistent. We have to keep going. There's definitely work to do individually, as a team, in the offseason, but being able to end this way is a great way to cap off this year.”

Well, let's see what Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers have in store for us in the new season.

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