Is Bryce Young just not cut out to be an NFL quarterback?

It was another dreadful opener for Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers. He had an interception, a fumble, and a couple of missed throws that might've gone for scores. It harkened back to the last two openers, where Young looked pretty awful. Last year, the opener began with an interception, so there was an improvement this time. The interception didn't come until the second quarter.

So is Young just bad? Was his run last year a bit of a "Linsanity" run? The answer is probably not. Take a careful look at the game tape from this opener and last year's, and there is a clear difference. Young was scared last year, but he didn't look timid this time.

The throws he made were the same attempts he had last year when he played with confidence. The playcalling just wasn't great, the pass-catchers let him down numerous times, and there was some lack of synchronicity, potentially because of the lack of preseason snaps.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) is flushed from the pocket during the second quarter of an NFL football matchup at EverBank Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Young had a few impressive throws on Sunday, which was not really the case in 2024's first two games. There's a clear difference in the player, so this was just a bad outing, not so much in the same vein as last year's pre-benching run.

The jury may still be out on whether or not Young can be elite, but I'm not willing to overreact to a Week 1 start where every single player on the offense (except for Tetairoa McMillan) looked like they'd never played football before. That includes Dave Canales, who didn't do much to help his struggling QB with the playcalling.

Plus, the level of play Young was at last year was so good, it couldn't possibly be a "Linsanity" run. He was PFF's best QBs per their grading system from the benching on. He was among the league leaders in so many advanced metrics despite the two bad starts and the stint on the bench.

Young had a bad day, but so did everyone else. It's not quite time to panic and pull the plug just yet. He got better as the season went last year, as did a lot of the offense, so this is just one to flush.

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