Bryce Young’s Steady Progress is Something for Panthers to Build On

It’s a franchise that has still not experienced back-to-back winning campaigns, and that won’t change this upcoming season. Yes, the Carolina Panthers won the NFC South with an 8-9 record in 2025. However, the team has now finished below .500 every year since 2018.

Quarterback Bryce Young has had an interesting three-year stay in Charlotte after the Panthers made him the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. He’s played a total of 46 regular-season games, with 44 starts. He’s thrown for a combined 8,291 yards and 49 touchdowns, but he’s also turned over the ball 42 times.

Rookie QB Bryce Young — USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

However, he has made steady strides since a forgettable rookie campaign in which he completed just 59.8 percent of his throws, finished with nearly as many interceptions (10) as TD passes (11), lost six of his 11 fumbles, and was sacked 62 times in 16 outings.

Panthers’ QB Bryce Young took another step forward in 2025

Fast forward to 2025. He once again played in 16 regular-season games, and his completion percentage jumped to 63.6. He finished with 3,011 yards and more than twice as many touchdown strikes (23) as interceptions (11). Young was sacked just 27 times, and did finish with a total of 15 turnovers thanks to four lost fumbles. However, five of those miscues came in the first five quarters of the season.

Last week, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report pointed to one player on each of the league’s 32 teams that he deemed was the club’s most promising building block with the 2026 season on the horizon. When it came to Dave Canales’s club, he selected Carolina’s three-year signal-caller.

Consistency continues to elude Panthers’ QB Bryce Young

“The Alabama product took a massive step forward in 2025,” said Knox, “finishing with a career-best 87.8 quarterback rating and leading Carolina to an NFC South title. While he clearly has room for continued development, he showed enough promise this past season to land on the NFL’s Top 100 list.”

One of Young’s biggest issues this past season was his struggles early in games, particularly in the first 30 minutes of play. He combined for eight TD passes and 10 turnovers in the first half of his 16 regular-season starts. He settled down after intermission, totaling three times as many scoring tosses (15) as turnovers (5) in the second half.

Dear Brad Idzik and Bryce Young,

FEED JALEN COKER THE BALL. pic.twitter.com/ravhlwnNkO
— SleeperPanthers (@SleeperCarolina) May 5, 2026

Young also overcame a first-quarter interception in the wild card loss to the Rams and finished with 264 passing yards and one touchdown, while also running for a score. The sluggish starts have to change in 2026 if the Panthers are to post their first winning season since 2017.

The 2026 season shapes up as a big opportunity of Bryce Young

Panthers’ general manager Dan Morgan and the organization have shown faith in the three-year signal-caller, picking up his fifth-year option earlier this year. Another season in which Young makes progress could add up to bigger and better things for the improving performer, as well as a team that has come a long way since a disastrous 2-15 showing in 2023.

“If Young makes positive strides this season,” added Knox, “he’ll likely earn a new contract and serious Pro Bowl consideration.”

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