There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young.
Former linebacker, franchise great and Panthers radio voice Luke Kuechly talked about the resilience of Young on Monday’s episode of Up & Adams. And even though some within the league believed the 5-foot-10, 190-pound passer would have trouble holding up in the pros, Kuechly—one of the toughest players to ever lace them up—thinks Young has already proved he’s plenty strong enough.
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“For me, with Bryce, he’s shown that he’s physically tough,” Kuechly told host Kay Adams. “He’s shown that when there’s a little bit of adversity—he got benched. The guy didn’t get hurt, nothin’. He got benched. And for him to stay locked in and come back and have the second half of the season like he did—I just think shows he’s got the physical toughness he showed his rookie year and then mentally, he’s tough as well. The signs are there, now we just gotta put the whole picture together.”
After an underwhelming rookie campaign, Young had the start of his sophomore season halted in Week 3—when he was benched for veteran Andy Dalton. The former No. 1 overall pick turned in, perhaps, the two worst performances of his brief NFL career to that point—passing for just 245 yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions between a pair of blowouts losses in Weeks 1 and 2.
He’d get his second chance in Week 8, when a hand injury sidelined Dalton ahead of the team’s trip to Denver. Young wouldn’t look back from there, finishing the final 10 games with 2,327 yards, 20 scores and six picks while leading the Panthers to a 4-6 mark.
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So as Young enters his third year, the picture and his toughness—as Kuechly alluded to—continues to come together.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers QB Bryce Young praised by franchise great Luke Kuechly