The jury is still out on whether Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young will live up to being the No. 1 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Young, who was benched at one point during the 2024 season, finished his second NFL season on a high note, leading the Panthers to a 44-38 overtime win on the road against the Atlanta Falcons in the regular-season finale.
The former Alabama quarterback played well, in general, after returning to the starting quarterback role in late October.
While the future certainly looks more promising for Young than it did a year ago, the California native still has a lot of developing to do if he’s going to be a longterm franchise quarterback in Carolina.
Panthers legend Jake Delhomme, however, thinks after this past season that Young could be “what everyone thought he was” coming out of Alabama.
Delhomme’s belief is largely based on Young’s performance against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024
“I thought the Kansas City game was Bryce’s coming-out party as a quarterback,” said Delhomme (via The Athletic). “There were multiple times that game Chris Jones had free runs on him or was coming after him. And just watching Bryce stand in the pocket, absorb those hits, making the throws, that’s what I noticed.”
Delhomme was specifically impressed with the play that Young made against Philadelphia where he evaded pressure in the end zone to convert a key third down.
“For Bryce to get out of the tackle in the end zone and just make play after play, go down the field on the road in Philly, it gave you a good feeling that, OK, this kid, he could be what everyone thought he was,” noted Delhomme to The Athletic. “Just sometimes it takes a little while. We want instant success. Both of those games, you knew they were good, quality football teams. But the game against Kansas City in Charlotte, that’s the coming-out for Bryce that I was like, wow.”
Delhomme is right — sometimes it just takes a little while.
The lack of patience in the NFL when it comes to quarterbacks is one of the most frustrating things about pro football these days. For starters, it’s absurd for rookie quarterbacks to be forced into starting roles (in most situations). It takes time to adjust to the physicality and speed of the NFL. It’s a new lifestyle, and a new environment with new expectations. A player’s early years in the NFL should still be all about development. But thanks to rookie salary scales and the NFL salary cap, NFL teams feel pressured to draft a young quarterback and make him an instant star (which very rarely actually happens).
Young may or may not become a superstar in 2025, but that doesn’t mean that anyone should give up on him if he continues to have some tough moments. It’s pro sports, after all, everyone has down moments from time to time.
The most important thing for Young is that he continues to be confident. That’s the player that Delhomme saw against the Eagles and the Chiefs. And that’s the player that Young has to be if he’s going to hold down a starting job in the NFL for years to come.