Panthers starter Bryce Young lands in wrong tier in NFL quarterback rankings

Bryce Young seemingly erased all doubts at the end of last year. Seemingly is a key word, because a recent QB ranking has the Carolina Panthers QB in a surprising spot. Not every quarterback is a franchise guy, but Young genuinely looked the part down the stretch while playing with no weapons and a historically bad defense.

It was more than enough to cement himself as the starter moving forward for the Panthers, but it was apparently not enough to cement himself in the eyes of Bleacher Report. B/R's Gary Davenport ranked Young in a tier that is probably not fair to include him in now.

Bryce Young was ranked incorrectly once again

Bryce Young landed in "The Mayeb Brigade" on Davenport's rankings. It's better than the "No. Just No" and "Over-The-Hill Gang" tiers, but it's probably a little disrespectful to Young. Davenport said, "Not that long ago, Young appeared headed for the status of one of the bigger draft busts in recent memory. But when Young returned from his midseason benching last year, his level of play improved markedly. By year's end, he had shown enough improvement as a passer to at the very least buy himself one more season at the helm of Carolina's offense."

Those comments may be a little reductive about Young. When you compare the others in the tier, it makes a little more sense for Young, although he should be in the "NFL Starter" tier by now. Perhaps the more egregious error is who the QB was ranked below.

Michael Penix Jr., who he outdueled with a worse defense and worse playmakers, Drake Maye, who had worse numbers, Trevor Lawrence, who can't seem to stay healthy or reach his potential, Tua Tagovailoa, Kyler Murray, another player Young outdueled and ended the season of, and Caleb Williams ranked higher.

Young outplayed most of his counterparts and looked like a top 10 NFL quarterback down the stretch. The sample size does matter, but it was 10 games of good play. He should've been ranked ahead of some in the starter tier, too, but that's perhaps an argument for another day.

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