The Carolina Panthers are sticking with quarterback Bryce Young. Through two years in the pros, the No. 1 pick overall in the 2023 NFL draft still has the jury out on him.
One can make a case that the 2024 NFL season will be his make-or-break year with the team that drafted him. Young showed some promise following his mid-season benching in 2024, and he’s looking to make louder noise to prove to Carolina that he’s the man for the job under center for years to come.
The former Alabama Crimson Tide star signal-caller is already showing some fiery attitude in the offseason, perhaps as part of his preparation for the upcoming 2025 campaign.
As observed by David Newton of ESPN, Young had an interesting moment during practice when he called out defensive back Jaycee Horn for letting the defense know a play that the QB called for.
The typically mild-mannered, soft-spoken quarterback got animated, yelling at Horn that he shouldn’t do that, saying, “Y’all should believe in yourself” and not have to resort to such things. It went on for more than 10 seconds.
It was a side the top pick of the 2023 NFL draft seldom showed, at least with media watching, in his first two years in the league.
Carolina Panthers GM sounds off on Young’s 2024 benching
After losing to the New Orleans Saints and to the Los Angeles Chargers in the first two weeks of the 2024 NFL season, the Panthers made the surprising decision to take the keys away from Yound and have veteran Andy Dalton start.
Young was able to get the QB1 role back, and he threw for 2,104 passing yards and 15 touchdowns with six interceptions in his final 10 starts, while Carolina won four of those contests.
During a recent appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Panthers GM Dan Morgan shared his thoughts on Carolina head coach Dave Canales’ benching of Young.
“I think coach Canales did a great job of just like, making a hard decision,” Morgan said (h/t Essentially Sports). “It was a hard decision to, you know, bench Bryce after the second game of the year. And for him to do that and being a first-time head coach, not a lot of guys would do that in that type of situation. So, for him to feel that that was going to be the best thing for Bryce and I thought it was a great move by him and what was best for the organization.”
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