Bryce Young

The Carolina Panthers made the playoffs after going 8-9 in the regular season and coming away with the NFC South title. It was the first time they had been to the playoffs since the 2017 season, when Cam Newton was still their quarterback. They put up a good fight against the Los Angeles Rams, losing 34-31 in the Wild Card Round.

Despite winning the NFC South this year, the Panthers have one thing holding them back from potentially taking that next step into a genuine contender, and that is quarterback Bryce Young. 

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Bryce Young Isn’t the Answer for the Carolina Panthers

Let’s start this by saying Bryce Young isn’t a bad quarterback. He has gotten better each season he has been in the NFL. Young has gotten more accurate each season, jumping from a 59.8% as a rookie to 63.6% this season. He threw more touchdowns this season with 23 of them. Young has looked better for the Panthers this year than in his first two seasons in the league. However, he just hasn’t shown that he has what it takes to be a franchise quarterback capable of making a team a contender. 

Young doesn’t have the big-time physical attributes that many teams like in their quarterbacks. He doesn’t have the big-time arm that teams love to have, and his accuracy isn’t elite enough to overcome that lack of arm strength. His bad throw rate is 16.4%, which tied with Joe Flacco for 24th in the NFL. On top of that, his interception rate was 2.3%, which was 30th in the NFL. If you are going to be a quarterback that doesn’t have superior physical tools, then you are going to have to make good decisions and be highly accurate, and Young hasn’t gotten there. 

On top of the physical tools, Young just hasn’t been good enough leading the Panthers offense for them to be comfortable with him moving forward. His success rate when throwing the ball is just 44.2%, which is good for 25th in the NFL. When you look at his EPA per play, his is -0.03, which is 32nd in the NFL, just ahead of Tyrod Taylor and Justin Fields. 

As I said earlier, Young hasn’t been bad, but another reason the Panthers need to move on from Young is that he is going to need a big contract soon. Average quarterbacks are getting paid big money in the NFL now, and it keeps teams from taking that next step most of the time. Young isn’t good enough to make that much money and help carry the team after that. They need to have a plan to move on from him. 

If the Panthers want to become genuine title contenders, they are going to have to make the decision to move on from Young and bring in someone who can take them to the promised land. Between his play on the field and what he is going to cost the Panthers in another year or two, he just isn’t the answer for them at the quarterback position.