The Panthers Are Making Bryce Young's Job Nearly Impossible. He's Doing It Anyway

I'm starting to run out of things to question about Bryce Young, and I didn't think I'd be saying that four games into this season.

I've been hard on Young. I don't think I've been unfair, but I've definitely been one of those people who wanted to see more before I started believing he had finally turned the corner. One good game wasn't going to do it for me, and honestly, two probably weren't either.

How often NFL quarterbacks have been under pressure and how they've fared in 2026

Bryce Young has been terrific despite a shakier #Panthers OL pic.twitter.com/qD73ja5vWT
— Bradley Locker (@Bradley_Locker) October 7, 2026

Then I saw this chart from PFF's Bradley Locker, and it made me look at what Young is doing a little differently. I knew Carolina's offensive line had struggled. You don't watch these games and miss how often Young has somebody coming after him, but I didn't realize it was happening this much.

Young has been pressured on roughly 47% of his dropbacks. That's almost half. Look at Locker's chart, and Young is sitting way over on the right, almost by himself, while still carrying a passing grade under pressure of around 64.

I looked at it and thought, how in the world is he playing this well?

Maybe I've been asking the wrong question about Young

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) makes a pass against Detroit Lions during the second half at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

For most of Young's career, I've wondered what he would look like if Carolina could just give him some help. Get him a legitimate receiver. Give him a running game. Protect him. Put something around the guy, and let's find out whether he can actually play.

Carolina has finally done some of that. Tetairoa McMillan looks like a legitimate No. 1 receiver, Chuba Hubbard has been really good, and the offense looks nothing like some of the messes we've watched the last few years.

The protection is where things haven't gone nearly as well.

There are reasons for that. Taylor Moton has been out, Monroe Freeling has had to move to right tackle after playing almost exclusively on the left side at Georgia, and Damien Lewis missed the Detroit game. Corey Bullock had to step in at left guard, so Carolina hasn't exactly had the luxury of putting the same five guys out there every week and forgetting about it.

I get all of that, but 47% is still 47%. At some point, I stopped looking at that chart and thinking about the offensive line and started thinking about Young. Because if we're going to criticize him when he doesn't play well — and I certainly have — then I think we have to give him some credit for what he's doing right now.

Young has thrown for 1,268 yards, nine touchdowns, and only two interceptions through four games. He just threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns against Detroit in a game I wasn't sure Carolina could win. And he's doing all of this while getting pressured on almost half of his dropbacks.

Maybe I've been looking at Young the wrong way.

I spent a lot of time wondering whether he could be good enough if Carolina finally put the right pieces around him. Now I'm starting to wonder how good he could be if the Panthers actually kept him clean. That's a much different conversation than the ones we've been having about Young for the last few years.

I'm still not ready to go crazy after four games. There's a lot of football left, and Philadelphia coming out of the bye is going to tell us even more about where Young and this offense really are. Ask me again in a couple of weeks, and maybe I'll feel completely different.

But I'm also not going to keep moving the goalposts every time Young answers another question. I wanted to see him do it more than once, and he has. I wanted to see what happened when things weren't perfect around him, and I think getting pressured on nearly half of his dropbacks answers that one pretty well.

Now, for the love of God, can somebody block for him?

Add us as a preferred source on Google