Bryce Young's creativity out of structure nearly unmatched in NFL

In the pre-draft process, one of the things that led to Bryce Young being favored as the number one pick, which the Carolina Panthers eventually used on him in 2023, was his creativity out of structure. When plays broke down at Alabama, the former Heisman trophy winner could make something out of nothing.

Adjusting to the NFL speed proved to be hard for Young, and his ability to do that appeared diminished. It has returned since he returned from the bench last season, though. And in actuality, Young has been one of the best players in football in that regard.

Bryce Young can avoid sacks and make it happen like few others

The Panthers do have a solid offensive line, though it is terribly banged up right now and is a little better in run blocking than pass protection. Nevertheless, it hasn't been a weakness, but pressure and sacks happen regardless.

According to this, Bryce Young has been the 2nd most efficient QB after avoiding a sack...with the 4th most sacks avoided (10).

Sam Darnold is #1 but he's only avoided 4 sacks.

BY's ability to avoid sacks and create out of structure is VERY underrated.

Per @PattonAnalytics pic.twitter.com/k7bbMdhy2U
— Keep Purring Podcast (Ben) (@KeepPurringBen) October 23, 2025

But with Bryce Young back there, the offensive line can breathe a little easier. Protecting him is a little easier since, according to the above graphic, he's pretty good at avoiding sacks. He has the fourth-most avoided sacks in the NFL.

That's only half the equation, though. When the sack is avoided, what passers do next is important. Avoiding the sack only to throw it away is a win, but it's not the best outcome. Making something out of nothing, which was Young's college strenght, is important.

Fortunately, Young excels at that. He's the second-most efficient quarterback in football after avoiding being sacked. If a defender misses in the backfield, Young makes defenses pay more than anyone not named Sam Darnold, who, for the record, has only avoided four sacks thus far.

What makes this even more interesting is that Young does not have the elite speed or elusiveness, nor the physicality, to really avoid sacks like that. He's not slippery like Lamar Jackson or Jayden Daniels, and he's not strong like Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, or Baker Mayfield. Yet, he outdoes them all in this metric.

That can likely be attributed to Young's football IQ and his awareness. He's pretty good at sensing pressure, and he's smart enough to know where to go. In his rookie season, he often ran out of the pocket too early or ran into pressure. Now, he knows exactly where to go and when to go there.

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