The Carolina Panthers pinned the future hopes of the franchise on the back of Bryce Young over the offseason. Carolina traded up from the No. 9 pick to No. 1 overall to select the former Alabama quarterback as the first of three QBs to go within the first four selections of round one. Moving up for Young cost Carolina its 2024 first round draft pick, its best wide receiver in D.J. Moore, and additional draft compensation, which was all delivered to the Chicago Bears.
Bryce Young threw 2 terrible interceptions, and concerns are building
The No. 1 overall pick is struggling for the Panthers.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
If the Panthers thought Young would be a franchise savior from day one, it’s sure looking like he isn’t set up for success right now. The Panthers are the only winless team in the NFL after five weeks, and Young’s rookie performance is still getting worse before it gets better.
As the Detroit Lions beat up on the Panthers again in Week 5, Young threw a couple terrible interceptions that left fans openly wondering if Carolina made the wrong choice with the first overall selection.
Young’s first interception of the day was a true eyesore. Watch it here:
Lions defensive back Jerry Jacobs played Young like a fiddle here. The defensive back bated the QB to throw the deeper route, only to peel off his man underneath and grab the interception.
Young’s second interception of the day came off a brilliant play from emerging Lions star Aiden Hutchinson. Hutchinson came off his pass rush to make an incredible one-handed inception. While it’s a great play, Young has to be smarter with his decisions.
Young also threw a pair of touchdown passes in the game. He threw a nice strike to D.J. Chark, and also threw a short TD to Tommy Tremble.
Young’s struggles are amplified by the fact that Carolina would be sending the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to the Bears right now. While fellow top picks C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson continue to impress as rookie QBs, Young and Panthers just can’t get anything going. The schedule doesn’t get any easier next week with the Miami Dolphins waiting.
As our James Dator wrote this week, Young is being let down by everyone around him in Carolina. At a certain point, it will be his job to lift everyone else up. He still has a long way to go before he hits that level.
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