Bryce Young a Top 10 QB? One Insider Believes in Panthers Star

The NFL world is still buzzing over all of the Week 1 action. Offense took over to kick off the season, as the 2026 opening weekend tied the Super Bowl-era record for most points, with 791 points posted across the slate.

The Carolina Panthers were a huge part of that, posting 37 points in their season debut and posting 478 total yards of offense. Yet, Carolina is 0-1 because the defense gave up 59 points and over 550 yards of offense to the Chicago Bears.

For Carolina fans and those who follow the Panthers more closely than the general public, the biggest takeaway from the game is the lack of defense.

From a national perspective, Bryce Young's performance was an extremely encouraging start to what is undoubtedly the most important season of his life.

The easiest way to act after Week 1 is to overreact to either phenomenal performances or lackluster efforts from a team with high expectations. When it comes to QB play, Young performed just as well as the league's best, which has his stock higher than it was in the preseason.

NFL Insider Says Bryce Young Stock is High

Bryce Young against the Bear — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

FOX Sports' Henry McKenna dropped his QB stock-market list ahead of Week 2. This list isn't the typical QB rankings that come out often.

It's a week-to-week ranking, which means a huge performance can mean a QB surges up the list, and a bad performance can plummet a QB even if they're a consensus top player at his position.

That said, Young started as well as he could have, so he slots in at No. 10 in McKenna's QB stock market. Does the Week 1 performance mean that Young is stamped as a top-10 QB? Of course not, but there weren't 10 QBs who performed better than Young in Week 1, so the ranking is justified.

Young ranked ahead of established QBs like Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, and even reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford.

That alone shows how these rankings work, cause even the biggest Panthers fans on the planet wouldn't have an argument for Young being ranked over any of them overall.

Young finished the day completing 62% of his passes for 361 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. On top of the stellar passing numbers, Young ran in a touchdown as well. It's legitimately one of the better performances of Young's career.

Now the question is whether Young can keep this up, put together a season full of consistency, and play at an elite level. Only time will tell.

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