Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young came into the NFL as the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. That comes with some big expectations to perform right away. And thus far in his rookie season, he has certainly been underwhelming to most fans.
Young and the Panthers took on the Chicago Bears on Thursday night. And it was much of the same from Young, struggling to get into much of a rhythm.
He finished the game with just 185 passing yards while completing just 55% of his passes, with several bad misses highlighting his struggles with accuracy thus far in his career.
Wow…Bryce Young. There are high schoolers that could hit this throw. Just awful. This kid is completely broken. pic.twitter.com/8EJmJQeqoz
— Mister Truth (@MisterTruthYT) November 10, 2023
More importantly, the Panthers lost the game 16-13 to fall to an abysmal 1-8 record on the season.
Final. pic.twitter.com/Qhw3huHmXJ
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) November 10, 2023
Young’s struggles on the year are even more pronounced due to some impressive play from fellow rookie quarterbacks on the year. C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, and Will Levis have all shown moments of brilliance in their rookie seasons.
We simply haven’t seen that yet from Young, which is obviously concerning given the massive haul the Panthers gave up to select him in the draft.
This has led many fans to ask one important question about Young. Is it too early to call him a bust?
Is Bryce Young going to be a bust? pic.twitter.com/JSbl1bybIm
— Dead President Picks (@DeadPresPicks) November 10, 2023
https://twitter.com/_StanSnitsar/status/1722808253090758732
https://twitter.com/dirtiestmikee/status/1722829872064872476
Is it too early to say Bryce Young is a total bust?
— Kmac (@KMaC703) November 10, 2023
I am not one for saying a first year quarterback is a bust but Bryce Young is 5’9 and just lost to the Chicago Bears with a quarterback whose name you shouldn’t know unless you get paid to cover the draft
— Evan Sowards (@EvanSowards) November 10, 2023
Bryce Young is awful. Most likely gonna be a huge bust. I just don’t see him ever being that good
— 🏈🤑💪 (@ChiefofStaff_9) November 10, 2023
Calling Young a bust this early in his career may be a bit harsh. But those already proclaiming him to be a bust do have some pretty convincing stats in their favor if you are going off of this season alone.
Young came into Thursday’s game ranking at the very bottom of the league amongst starting quarterbacks in several key passing statistics, including quarterback rating and yards-per-completion.
It also doesn’t help that the Panthers roster, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, is very clearly lacking a dynamic playmaker for Young to throw the ball to. You can certainly make the argument that he is destined to fail as long as their roster remains the way that it is.
Regardless, Young will need to play much better if he wants to avoid even more fans entertaining the idea of him already being a bust.
