Bryce Young lands in extremely disrespectful spot in these NFL quarterback rankings

Bryce Young was a completely different quarterback in the second half of the 2024 season compared to the one we saw early in the year and during his rookie season. While his traditional passing numbers were not all that impressive, they also misrepresented just how well Young played once he returned to the lineup in Week 8 after his benching. By the time the season ended and Young had smoked the Falcons for five touchdowns, he was performing at a top-10 level.

However, it seems not everyone got the memo that Young has officially arrived. Analysts who haven't actually watched the Carolina Panthers play in the second half of the season or who were relying on numbers to judge Young's performance may have missed out on Young's impressive development.

Some quarterback rankings prove that there are some out there who haven't heard the news. While NFL.com ranked Young 14th at season's end, a new batch of QB rankings from Ben Rolfe at Pro Football Network somehow has Young all the way down at number 28.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JANUARY 05: Bryce Young #9 of the Carolina Panthers throws the ball during an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 5, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. | (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

PFN on ranking Bryce Young 28

"Young has been reasonably good when pressured all year, ranking 10th (-0.20 EPA/DB), which is significantly higher compared to the rest of the NFL than in other statistics. He’s 32nd in EPA/DB from a clean pocket (0.10) and 26th in overall EPA/DB (-0.02). Some other concerning numbers for Young are that he converted just 31.8% of third downs (33rd) this year, has a 5.8 nYPA (34th), with a 1.7 touchdown-to-interception ratio (23rd). He completed just 60.9% of his passes (35th) and averaged 171.6 passing yards per game (35th)."

Rolfe's rankings are pretty numbers-heavy, which could explain how someone like Derek Carr ranked as high as 11th, while Mason Rudolph managed to crack the top 100 (he was ranked 26th). Other eyebrow raising points on this list include Aidan O'Connell getting ranked higher than Matt Stafford and Justin Fields tying Justin Herbert.

Ranking quarterbacks is much easier said than done (just try it) but whatever methodology was used here something seems to be off. On film Young was throwing the hell out of the ball over the last several games of the season and using his legs as a dynamic weapon, as well. At a bare minimum he should be ranked no lower than 15th based on what we witnessed.

Frustrating as it is to see Young get such a disrespectful ranking, it's somewhat to be expected. Whether it's fair or not it's going to take more than one promising half-season of work for Young to completely erase his prior reputation and establish himself as a legitimate NFL starter.

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