One NFL analyst is high on Panthers’ quarterback Bryce Young in 2025. Is there enough of a sample size to think he’s turned the corner after a rough start?
A guarantee can be a tricky thing.
It’s been a solid offseason for a team that hasn’t seen the playoffs since 2017. The Carolina Panthers hit their share of home runs during free agency and that draft. They also have a young signal-caller that appears to be headed upwards.
NFL.com’s Marc Ross picked out seven players who will improve in 2025, and referred to them as “guaranteed risers.” On the list is Panthers’ starting quarterback Bryce Young, who went out with a bang this past season.
“Young took tremendous strides in 2024,” said Ross, “after returning to the starting lineup in Week 8 following his benching. He looked far more comfortable in his return and produced with consistency, as he threw for 2,104 yards, with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions in the final 10 contests. Most important perhaps is Young’s confidence grew immensely down the stretch, leading Carolina to either a game-tying or game-winning drive in six of those games.
“Now he enters his second season in Dave Canales’s system with his best supporting cast to date,” added Ross. “The Panthers drafted wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan eighth overall to pair with Adam Thielen and Xavier Legette, who I also believe is poised for a breakout campaign this fall. The 18th-ranked rushing attack from a year ago added Rico Dowdle to complement Chuba Hubbard, giving the team a pair of 1,000-yard rushers.”
“The Panthers have taken the necessary steps to ensure Young’s third season will be the best of his career,” stated Ross, “and now it’s up to him to not only continue to grow as a player but prove why he was worthy of being taken No. 1 overall in 2023. I believe that’s what he will do.”
Ross brings up some great points, and that’s all well and good. However, is a 10-game sample enough to ensure that the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner had indeed turned the corner? When you look at the first 18 games of his career (16 of those without Canales), Young threw for 11 scores and was picked off 13 times. He was sacked a combined 68 times and lost six of his 11 fumbles.
Has the two-year pro really come that far in such a short time? It looms as the biggest question for a franchise in the midst of a seven-year run where the team has finished with a losing season.
