As QBs in the 2023 NFL draft struggle, Bryce Young makes most of second chance
Published 4 November 2024
Given a second chance to resuscitate his young career, Bryce Young produced something equally as rare during Week 9 of the NFL season — a victory for the Carolina Panthers.
Young, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft, who was benched earlier this season after just 18 career starts, led Carolina on a game-winning drive to beat New Orleans 23-22.
After the Panthers took over with 3:26 left in the fourth quarter trailing 22-17, Young threw a pair of incompletions before he found Xavier Legette for 26 yards. On the next play, Young threw the ball high downfield, inducing a pass interference penalty that moved the ball 16 yards from the end zone. Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard scored on the next play, and Young was sacked on the two-point conversion.
The drive ended a day in which Young completed 16 of his 26 passes for 171 yards, with a short touchdown to Legette and an interception in which Legette initially caught the pass, only for a Saints defensive back to rip the ball away. The outing wasn’t spectacular — his 61% completion rate was only a tick higher than his 59% career average — but it was efficient, and it ended with a clutch victory over a team that had beaten the Panthers 47-10 in Week 1 while making Young look overwhelmed.
For Young, who is now 3-17 as a starter, that counts as progress.
The win ended the Panthers’ five-game home losing streak, dating to last season.
Carolina traded up to select Young out of Alabama first overall in 2023 and quickly installed him as the franchise’s face and starter. But in September, after just 18 starts and paltry production, he was benched in favor of veteran backup Andy Dalton. His struggles were magnified by the contrast between him and Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was drafted immediately after him and found early success as he led the Texans to the playoffs as a rookie.