Panthers QB Bryce Young Continues to Be Underrated and Disrespected

Despite having a career-best season and taking a sizeable step forward in 2025, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young continues to be disrespected and underrated.

The latest example of that came in the quarterback rankings of Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame, who placed Young at No. 30 and ahead of only the Arizona Cardinals' Jacoby Brissett and the Cleveland Browns' Shedeur Sanders.

"The Panthers went to the postseason last year after winning the NFC South with an 8–9 record, but it was more in spite of Young than because of him. The 2023 No. 1 pick was 28th in EPA (-40.8) and EPA per dropback (-0.08) while also ranking 30th with 6.3 yards per attempt. Of qualifying quarterbacks, only Spencer Rattler, Joe Flacco and Cam Ward were worse," he said.

"Unfortunately for Young, there’s not much reason for optimism," Verderame added. "While he will turn 25 years old on July 25, he’s shown little improvement, and outside of second-year receiver Tetairoa McMillan, there’s not much firepower for Young to target."

While nobody is ready to proclaim Young the locked-in starter for the long haul, there is hope he can be that guy after his 2025 performance, so we disagree with Verderame there.

While he no doubt still has things to fix, Young looked better last season than he has at any point during his career. He completed 63.6% of his passes for 3,011 yards and 23 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, all career-highs.

Young did that despite his receivers sporting the 13th-highest percentage of receiver error causing incompletions.

Why Bryce Young should be ranked higher

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) during the first day of mini camp at Bank of America Stadium practice facility. — Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When it comes to Verderame's rankings, Young should be at least as high as No. 25 with guys like Geno Smith, Malik Willis, Michael Penix, Fernando Mendoza and Cam Ward ranked ahead of him.

Smith was one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL last season, Willis has never been a full-time starter, Penix and Ward struggled last season and are less proven than Young, and Mendoza hasn't taken an NFL snap yet.

And with the jury still out on Tyler Shough and Jaxson Dart, the signal-callers sitting in the No. 24 and No. 23 spots, respectively, an argument can be made for Young to be higher than them, also.

It's very clear many analysts are hardly impressed with what he did in 2025, so Young is going to have to do it again and then some in 2026 in order to garner any semblance of respect.

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