Panthers’ Bryce Young Still Has Plenty to Prove in Weak NFC South QB Room

There’s now less than two months before the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers kick off the 2026 NFL preseason in Canton, Ohio, in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. Football writers and prognosticators are keeping busy with various breakdowns, predictions, and rankings. All make for good conversation.

Nick Shook of NFL.com had something to say when it comes the league’s quarterbacks. He recently ranked the league’s eight division based on their starting signal-callers, even if some of those jobs haven’t been settled on to date.

The quarterback situation for the NFC South isn’t overly inspiring

Case in point is the NFC South, which came in dead last on Shook’s list. There’s Carolina’s Bryce Young, New Orleans’ Tyler Shough, and Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield. Meanwhile, new Falcons’ head coach Kevin Stefanski has yet to decide on incumbent Michael Penix Jr., who saw his 2025 cut short by a knee injury, and newcomer Tua Tagovailoa. He saw his 2025 campaign with the Miami Dolphins shortened by struggles on the field.

Shook appears fairly content with the play of Mayfield, likes the potential of Shough, and looks for Atlanta’s QB situation to play itself out. On the other hand, he seems to have his doubts when it came to the field general of the reigning NFC South champions.

There some doubts regarding Panthers’ QB Bryce Young

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“I’m more apprehensive when it comes to Bryce Young,” explained Shook, “whose highs and lows vary too significantly for him to be trusted on a weekly basis. If Young can establish some consistency in his third year under coach Dave Canales, he can answer the many questions that follow him into the 2026 campaign, but that’s a big “if.”

It is certainly a very valid point. The Panthers got off to 1-3 start this past season before rallying to win seven of their final 13 games. Young committed a whopping five turnovers in his first five quarters of play as Dave Canales’s club dropped their first two games at Jacksonville and at Arizona, respectively.

While Young’s third NFL season proved to be his most productive in terms of career highs in passing yards (3,011) and TD tosses (23), the team was limited to 17 or fewer points in nine of his 16 regular-season starts.

Panthers’ QB Bryce Young has a golden opportunity ahead of him

Canales has relinquished the play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik. Carolina’s wide receiving corps of Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker, Xavier Legette, and rookie Chris Brazzell II is very promising, and a better ground game would help as well.

As he prepares for his fourth NFL campaign, Young knows that a breakout performance could mean a lucrative contract extension. However, consistency remains a four-letter word for the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner.

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