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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bryce Young doesn’t like to talk about last season.
He says there’s no point, and that all of his attention is focused on 2025.
And perhaps it should be. There is an undeniable undercurrent in Carolina that Year 3 could be pivotal for Young when it comes to his long-term future with the Panthers, the team that mortgaged plenty of draft capital to move up eight spots to take him No. 1 overall in the 2023 draft.
Overall, the returns have not been great.
Young is 6-22 as an NFL starter and has endured his share of struggles, including getting benched by rookie head coach Dave Canales two games into the 2024 season after the Panthers were outscored 73-13. Young looked uncomfortable in the pocket early last season, and Canales recognized it. He turned to veteran Andy Dalton, giving Young a chance to regroup while saying repeatedly that Dalton gave the team the “best chance to win.”
It’s unclear if Young would’ve received another chance to start had Dalton not injured his thumb in a late-October car crash.
But Young seized the second opportunity.
And, slowly but surely, he began to show improvement.
By the end of last season the poise and confidence that had helped earned him the 2021 Heisman Trophy at Alabama was back. The swagger began to return, too, evidenced by one particular touchdown pass in Week 18 to Tommy Tremble in which the diminutive quarterback turned his back to celebrate the score before his tight end caught the football in the end zone, reminiscent of NBA star Stephen Curry launching a 3-pointer and turning to jog back downcourt knowing it was going in.
Curry, a lifelong Panthers fan, posted a picture of Young on Instagram with his back to the play and hands raised with his personal message: “Confirmed.”
Young combined for five touchdowns that day in Atlanta, capping a three-game stretch to close the season with 10 touchdowns and no turnovers. His dramatic improvement over the period gave the Panthers renewed optimism that he could be their franchise quarterback.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Canales said. “He revealed a lot of his character in that process and showed great leadership. He stayed in front of the team. He did not take a seat in the back and just kind of let this thing play out. He continued to lead. He was sending a message very clearly to me, that this is my team and I respect it.”
Young and the Panthers open the season Sunday at Jacksonville.
They haven’t been to the playoffs since 2017, and while they’d like to snap that streak, that won’t necessarily define the season. The Panthers’ roster isn’t one that can realistically compete for a Super Bowl, and general manager Dan Morgan knows that. You don’t trade away your best wide receiver (Adam Thielen) if you have visions of contending for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
What Morgan and others in the Panthers’ front office want more than anything in Year 3 is continued growth from Young.
“I want to see him continue ascending as a leader, continue to develop the chemistry with the wideouts,” Morgan said. “It takes time to develop chemistry with wideouts and understand the way they move, the way they come out of the breaks. I think the sooner that he figures that out and who’s out on the field and like just gets that feel, the better off he’s gonna be.”
Young’s goal is simpler.
“Ups and downs, good games or bad games, regardless of the situation, I just want to be consistent in my work and my progress,” Young said.
Make no doubt about it, Young has the support of his locker room.
Center Austin Corbett said Young’s ability to emerge through dark times and reclaim the starting job said volumes about his character and leadership.
“Just to take the punch like he did,” Corbett said. “I don’t think there’s many players that would have handled it like he did. The entire situation, he owned it. When he was running the scout team, he attacked that. He was still preparing like he was a starter and to me how he owned it all. So how he emerged from it, to me, is truly incredible.”
Running back Chuba Hubbard has been one of Young’s staunchest supporters since his arrival.
He said it’s only a matter of time until Young is winning again, just as he did at Mater Dei High School in California and later at Alabama, where he was 24-3 as a starter.
“Everything Bryce has shown through it all, I kind of feel like I already knew,” Hubbard said. “I saw that from the beginning. I feel like he’s been resilient, he’s been tough, he’s been a leader since the beginning. So to see him just kind of flourishing now, no, that doesn’t surprise me in the least.”
Young said through it all he never lost confidence.
“My confidence comes from God,” he said plainly.
He leaned heavily on his faith and his family, as well as teammates like Dalton. But now, he said, it is time to move on and put last season behind him. He knows Year 3 is a big one for him but also realizes he can’t succeed if he’s still thinking about the past.
“Yeah, honestly, I’m not a big look-in-the-rearview-(mirror) kind of guy,” Young said. “I’m excited for this year. I’m excited for this group this year, and I feel great. We all feel great as a team, and we’re excited to compete.”
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Associated Press
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