Top QB prospects should learn from Panthers’ Bryce Young

Bryce Young is officially damaged goods. The Carolina Panthers quarterback, drafted No. 1 overall in 2023, lost his starting job this week after a disastrous start to the season. 

The Panthers are 0-2, while Young has completed just 55 percent of his passes, thrown three interceptions and failed to throw a touchdown pass. The former Alabama star will watch Sunday’s game from the bench, the first game of his young career in which he will serve as a backup.

Young is talented, there’s no doubt about that. Yes, he’s small at 5-foot-10-inches, and sure, hindsight says the Panthers should have taken C.J. Stroud, but it’s clear he was drafted into an awful situation. He has a weak supporting cast and an offensive line of matadors. He’s on his third head coach, and he plays for an owner in David Tepper who is building a resume as one of the worst owners ever.

“I hate to see Bryce Young get benched but I also don’t see a lot of opportunity for him to be successful based on the skill players & offensive line around him..

He’s the type of player that can operate really well when he has good players around him”

Nick Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/uzZrbLuvIO

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 20, 2024

Unfortunately for Young, the writing was on the wall for him the second he shook NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s hand on draft night. The Panthers stink, plain and simple. A rookie quarterback, no matter how good he is, can’t fix this mess. Tepper sold the farm for the opportunity to draft Young. It left the young QB with little help at the skill positions and an offensive line that allowed him to be sacked 62 times in 2023, the second-most in the NFL.

In the age of player empowerment, Eli Manning’s 2004 draft day refusal to play for the San Diego Chargers still stands as the biggest power move by a player. During an interview with Kyle Brandt in 2021, Manning spoke about his decision.

“It was my decision having talked with my agent, coaches, [general managers] and owners,” Manning said. “Going through the draft process, I was just worried about the Chargers organization at the time. I felt it was the right decision and I had a little pull. I quietly tried to say ‘Hey, please don’t draft me, it can be our secret,’ and they didn’t keep the secret part very well.”

Surely Young’s camp had their own reservations about Carolina’s situation and it’s an interesting thing that no other quarterback has tried to dictate where they go on draft night. Young is one of many top-five picks to become damaged goods within a year or two, the scapegoat for a situation no 23-year-old could stand to fix. It can be a career ruiner.

Time will tell if this benching ruins Young’s career, but it should serve as a lesson to future highly rated quarterbacks. Will someone else see a bad situation and force the team’s hand to pass on them? It worked for Manning, but it isn’t a decision that’s been replicated. 

After watching Young’s situation unfold, highly rated quarterbacks getting ready to enter the league should take note, and perhaps take action. It could save their career.