C.J. Stroud’s Success Doesn’t Make Bryce Young a Bust, but Panthers Must Spark Growth

Panthers QB Bryce YoungQuinn Harris/Getty Images

Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young had another rough go of things on Thursday night against the Chicago Bears.

Young had an underwhelming stat line—21-of-28 for 185 yards—but he did some good things. He had a couple of great throws, he scrambled for first downs, and he led the Panthers from their 9-yard line and into Chicago territory before Carolina opted for a 59-yard field-goal try instead of giving Young a chance to convert a 4th-and-10.

Eddy Pineiro missed the field goal, and once again, Young and the Panthers lost, this one in 16-13 fashion.

It’s only been nine games, but thus far, Young hasn’t looked like a surefire future franchise quarterback. He came into Thursday with eight touchdown passes, seven interceptions and a 77.1 passer rating.

Carolina dealt first- and second-round 2023 picks, a 2024 first-rounder, a 2025 second-rounder and wide receiver DJ Moore to move up to No. 1 overall and select its quarterback of the future.

Thanks to some historically good play by No. 2 overall pick and Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, it’s beginning to look like the Panthers picked the wrong quarterback.

Stroud, who has the Texans at 4-4, has a QB rating of 102.9 and just set a rookie record with 470 passing yards and five touchdowns in a comeback win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9.

Young hasn’t had a game close to that one, and to this point, he hasn’t played like he’s capable of doing so.

However, we’re barely at the midpoint of the 2023 season, and Stroud’s early success doesn’t mean that Young is going to be a bust or that Stroud will go on to be the best signal-caller from the 2023 draft class.

What it means is that Stroud’s skill set has translated more quickly to the NFL.

“In the right environment, Stroud will raise the floor of an offense right away,” Derrik Klassen wrote for the Bleacher Report Scouting Department before the draft. “He’s got the pre-snap vision, arm talent and accuracy to be functional sooner rather than later, and the progress he showed as the year went on suggests he has a capacity to improve rapidly.”

Stroud raised his draft stock significantly with a memorable College Football Playoff game against Georgia, and the skills he showed in that game have been on display throughout his rookie season. But while Stroud was the top QB prospect on the B/R board, opinions were split.

Young was the consensus No. 1 quarterback from an ESPN panel of Mel Kiper Jr., Todd McShay, Matt Miller and Jordan Reid. Pro Football Focus also had Young as QB1, as did the Panthers, obviously.

Plenty of folks agreed, and the one big knock on Young heading into the draft was his lack of archetypal size (5’10”, 204 lbs). His skills as a playmaking distributor were never really questioned.

“The optimist’s view is that Young is the best quarterback in the class. He is a sharp processor, though slightly less so in 2022 than in 2021, and understands how to play within the rhythm of a concept,” Klassen wrote.

Young’s size hasn’t presented obvious problems, but his best trait—his ability to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers—hasn’t been available because the Panthers just don’t have many of those.

Adam Thielen has been a pleasant surprise for Carolina, but almost the entire rest of the offense has struggled. Miles Sanders is shaping up to be a free-agent bust at running back. With all due respect to DJ Chark Jr., Hayden Hurst and rookie Jonathan Mingo, the Panthers don’t have dependably ancillary targets.

Let’s not pretend that Stroud has a roster full of perennial Pro Bowlers at his disposal. However, his blazing processing skills and quick release have allowed him to get the ball to the open receiver while overcoming inconsistent offensive line play.

Young’s forte is extending plays and finding the home run. Because of a lackluster ground game, a lack of receiver separation and poor pass protection, we’ve only seen the occasional flash of that ability—like on this gorgeous bucket-drop to Mike Strachan from Thursday:

Young also made some clutch reads and throws late, and he at least gave Carolina a chance on its final drive.

If the Panthers want to see plays like these more consistently, they must upgrade the roster, improve the pass protection and get Young a legitimate No. 1 receiver. They know that the quarterback’s development won’t happen immediately.

“You know, you just look to build a team, and it starts with your quarterback,” head coach Frank Reich said, per ESPN’s David Newton. “[Young’s] our guy. We have a blueprint in our mind of how we build that team. … We want to stick to that blueprint. We know some of that is going to take time.”

With the trade deadline in the rear view, Carolina can’t do a lot of building right now. What it can do is focus on sparking growth from its 22-year-old signal-caller.

Mistakes will come. If Young can learn to recognize mismatches pre-snap, to take the checkdown instead of going for the chunk play and to assess which windows are too tight to test—hopefully cutting down on his interceptions in the process—his rookie season can still be a success.

Carolina must simply have a different definition of “success” for its quarterback than Houston has for Stroud. Young might not win a lot of games or be named Offensive Rookie of the Year, but if he can learn what not to do ahead of his second season, it will go a long way.

Let’s not forget that Pro Bowl quarterback Trevor Lawrence had a disaster of a rookie season for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He finished Year 1 with a league-high (tied) 17 interceptions, three wins and a 71.9 passer rating. Buffalo Bills star signal-caller Josh Allen was equally inefficient as a rookie, finishing with 12 picks, five wins and a 67.9 passer rating.

The Bills and Jaguars—largely after firing Urban Meyer in Jacksonville’s case—found success by developing their quarterbacks for the future while maintaining their confidence.

“I really wanted to finish the year with confidence and just show, hey, this is who we can be, this is who I can be, this is who I am,” Lawrence said after his rookie struggles, per John Reid of the Florida Times-Union. ”And then just, like I said, I think confidence is so important.”

As rookies, Allen and Lawrence were outplayed and outshined by Baker Mayfield and Mac Jones, respectively. You’d be hard-pressed to find an NFL executive who would take Mayfield or Jones over Allen or Lawrence right now.

Stroud may still go on to have a better career than Young, and Young may ultimately not work out, but history suggests that it’s far too early to call it. The Panthers can’t compare the two right now and can only control the controllable.

They must identify plays with which Young is comfortable, figure out which players are worth keeping long-term, start dissecting their 2024 free-agent options and continue getting Young experience.

Most importantly, Carolina must figure out how to keep Young’s confidence high. Not taking the ball out of his hands with the game on the line might be a good place to start.