Carolina Panthers youngster Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft out of the University of Alabama, was generally considered to be the best quarterback and perhaps the best player in the 2023 draft class.
However, he didn’t exactly play like it last season.
Young struggled mightily, completing just 59.8 percent of his pass attempts and throwing for 2,877 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as his Panthers finished with the worst record in the NFL.
Some may be inclined to call Young a bust at this point. But plenty of NFL QBs have played poorly as rookies, only to go onto bright stardom shortly afterward.
Diontae Johnson, a wide receiver the Panthers acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers this spring, did give an encouraging sign he has seen from the former member of the Crimson Tide.
“He’s making his reads quicker,” Johnson said. “Just having more receivers out there that can win gives him more confidence to play harder and smarter.”
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Johnson may not be the second coming of Steve Smith Sr., the five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver for the Panthers in the 2000s and early 2010s, but he should give Young another reliable threat offensively.
Last season, Young had Adam Thielen, who put up 1,014 yards but just four touchdowns, and Carolina’s run game was also anemic, as it ranked 30th in rushing touchdowns.
Overall, the Panthers were 31st in points scored and dead last in total yards.
The team also seems hopeful that Xavier Legette, a rookie wide receiver from the University of South Carolina (32nd overall pick), will become a significant threat. He had 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns last season, and he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds at the scouting combine a couple of months ago.
While at Alabama, Young was a very prolific signal-caller. He threw for 8,200 yards and 80 touchdowns in two seasons and 27 games as a starter, and he won the Heisman Trophy for the 2021 season with 4,872 passing yards and 47 touchdown passes.
That production seems to indicate that, if he makes the right adjustments and puts in the work, he could still excel at the pro level.
Perhaps Panthers fans should remind themselves that even though Cam Newton was the Rookie of the Year in 2011, he completed just 60.0 percent of his passes and threw 17 interceptions against just 21 touchdown passes that year.
But over the next few years, he refined his game and cut down on his interceptions, which allowed him to take home the league MVP award in 2015.
Of course, Bryce Young isn’t the ground threat Newton was, but he may have more natural talent as a passer, despite being a much more underwhelming physical specimen.