Bryce

Young

Panthers coaches worked primarily on Young’s footwork and drop backs while he ran the scout team after being benched in late September for Andy Dalton. For more than a month, Carolina coaches helped “to refine Young’s footwork and drill into him the importance of urgency in the huddle and pre-snap operation, which Dalton helped demonstrate.” Coaches addressed Young’s habit of jump-passing, which had proved disastrous over the first two games of the season. The result was a far more confident second-year quarterback who showed immense improvement over the final seven games of the 2024 season. Only six quarterbacks had a higher completion rate over expected than Young From Week 11-18. He ended the year with a 251-yard, three-touchdown outing against the Falcons in an upset victory for Carolina. Young, against many odds, has positioned himself as the Panthers’ clear Week 1 starter in 2025.

Young cooked in this one, facing very little pressure and hitting pass catchers in stride throughout. It was only the fourth time this season Young has thrown multiple touchdowns, as Carolina coaches continue putting more trust in the second-year QB. Young connected with David Moore, Miles Sanders, and Tommy Tremble for his passing scores, and found pay dirt twice on red zone scrambles — an part of his game that has emerged over the past month. Young will end his second season with 15 touchdown passes over 11 starts, adding six scores on the ground. Young’s final five starts of the season were likely enough for the Panthers to commit to him as their 2025 starter. That was not at all guaranteed as recently as October, when head coach Dave Canales had no choice but to bench Young for Andy Dalton after a miserable start to the year. Young over the past month has shown he can be, at worst, a game manager with usable mobility.

At last, our questions have been answered. Canales and the Panthers hope to “finish strong” against the Falcons in Week 18’s contest between two underperforming NFC South teams. Young threw for 203 yards and two scores in last week’s loss to the Buccaneers and has thrown for 771-6-3 while completing 60.3 percent of his passes in his last four games. Young still has a lot to prove as he prepares for the upcoming offseason. A strong finish against the Falcons will go a long way of boosting his confidence heading into 2025.

Young’s date with the Bucs had the makings of a shootout in the first quarter. Tampa Bay scored on their opening drive and Young returned the favor with a touchdown toss to Adam Thielen. The Panthers would then go three-and-out on their next three drives. By the time Young threw his second touchdown, also to Adam Thielen, the Bucs had 27 points on the board. Tamp Bay then shut out the Panthers in the second half. The second-year passer made a few perfectly-placed deep throws to Thielen but couldn’t get anything going with his rookie receivers. Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette combined for 63 yards. Young was far from perfect in this game, but the lack of weaponry was also noticeable. Young will look to close out his season on a high-note versus the Falcons in Week 18.

Young popped up on Carolina’s injury report on Friday but was still listed as a full participant in practice. The decision to add him to Friday’s report is more a formality than a concern, and he does not carry an official game status into Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers. He’ll profile as QB2 in a game that could turn into a surprise shootout.

This one had a little bit of everything, though that thankfully did not include a Young turnover. It did include a deep Adam Thielen drop, a mistake for which the wideout atoned for with a second quarter touchdown. Today was by far the best rushing performance of Young’s career, as his 23-yard scoring rumble wasn’t even his longest ground gain. That would be his 34-yard scamper to get the Panthers into the red zone three plays prior. Young continues to be graded on a curve — he hardly lit the world ablaze this afternoon — but he did continue to make plays, something that almost never happened until about six weeks ago. The next step will be stacking them and actually spiking a week. Today did come awfully close. The Bucs are a plus Week 17 matchup.

Week 15 was a return to form in the worst way possible for Young. Having gone toe-to-toe with the Chiefs, Bucs, and Eagles over the past month, the former No. 1 overall pick appeared to have finally overcome some of his biggest weaknesses. While that may be the case in the long run, it wasn’t true today. Young struggled under pressure, taking six sacks and losing two fumbles. Both of the interceptions fell squarely on his shoulders as well. The first was a tight-window throw that was deflected into the hands of a defender and the second was an egregiously under-thrown deep shot intended for Adam Thielen. Young will look to rebound versus the Cardinals in Week 16, but fantasy managers should look elsewhere for a streaming option.

He added seven carries for 29 yards. With 52 seconds left, Young reared and found Xavier Legette downfield for what looked like a go-ahead touchdown. But Legette could not complete the catch, and the Eagles stalled out as a delay of game penalty put them behind the sticks. Young has genuinely taken a turn the last few weeks and again looked better than the box score here, with a few deep passes going incomplete on poor efforts by his receivers. Adam Thielen has been the only dependable receiver the Panthers have set him up with. Young is set up for another date on the QB2 line against the Cowboys in Week 15.

Young’s mobility jumped off the screen in this one. He took just one sack against the blitz-happy Buccaneers despite playing into overtime with them. It was truly a special showing. Young kept his eyes downfield while traveling out of the pocket and throwing on the run and his box score was seemingly robbed of a second Adam Thielen touchdown. The referees reviewed what appeared to be an acrobatic score from the veteran receiver but ultimately ruled that he failed to complete the catch. The two have an undeniably strong connection though. His 186 passing yards at half time are a career-high. Young is a QB2 with upside against the Eagles in Week 14.

Young had one of the best outings of his NFL career. Young made anticipatory throws time and again, trusting his pass catchers against a tough Kansas City secondary. Young stood strong in the pocket on a handful of critical completions in the second half and appeared far more comfortable than usual in the pocket. He showed poise when flushed outside the pocket too. This was just the third time in Young’s NFL career in which he averaged more than 7.5 yards per attempt, all while Panthers receivers dropped a few well-thrown balls. If Week 12 marks a turning point in Young’s career as a viable starting quarterback, he could hold some fantasy value down the stretch. That includes Week 13 against an exploitable Bucs defense.