The Carolina Panthers committed the future hopes of the franchise to Bryce Young during the offseason. Carolina moved up from the ninth overall pick to select the former Alabama quarterback as the first of three QBs to fall within the first four picks of the first round. Young’s move cost Carolina a first-round pick in the 2024 draft, its top wide receiver, D.J. Moore and additional draft compensation, all delivered to the Chicago Bears.
If the Panthers thought Young was the savior of the franchise from day one, it doesn’t look like he’s ready to succeed now. The Panthers are the only undefeated team in the NFL after five weeks, and Young’s rookie performance will get worse before it gets better.
When the Detroit Lions beat the Panthers again in Week 5, Young threw a pair of terrific interceptions that had fans openly wondering if Carolina made the wrong choice with the first overall pick.
Lions defensive end Jerry Jacobs played like a fiddle here as a junior. The defensive back beat the QB to throw a deeper route, but stripped his man and grabbed the interception. Young’s second stop of the day was a great play by rising Lions star Aiden Hutchinson. Hutchinson started his serve and hit an incredible one-handed shot. While this is a great play, Young needs to be smarter with his decisions.
Young also threw a pair of touchdown passes in the game. He threw a good shot to D.J. Chark and also threw a short TD to Tommy Tremble.
Adding to Young’s struggles is the fact that Carolina would now send the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to the Bruins. While other main menus at C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson continue to impress as rookie QBs, Young and the Panthers just can’t get anything going. The schedule won’t get any easier next week as the Miami Dolphins await. As our James Dator wrote this week, Young is being let down by everyone around him in Carolina. At a certain point, it’s his job to lift everyone else up. He still has a long way to go to reach this level.
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