The Panthers are vastly improved. Bryce Young, despite his one-off performance in Week 11, is decidedly not.
With a decision on Young’s fifth-year option coming after this season, Carolina has to make the easy, yet difficult, choice. Decline it and move on.
On Monday night, you saw all the reasons why the Panthers can compete in future years, and why Young is holding them back. In a 20–9 loss to the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium, Carolina’s defense produced three first-half interceptions. Young turned those miscues into three points, including an interception of his own from the Niners’ 1-yard line.
Young had a moment, throwing a 29-yard touchdown to Tetairoa McMillan in the final minute of the third quarter. Yet everything else ranged from nondescript to a disaster, such as the aforementioned interception. Yet overall, the 2023 No. 1 pick was 18-of-29 for 169 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions on 5.8 yards per attempt.
Young was brilliant against the Falcons in a 30–27 overtime win last weekend, throwing for 448 yards and three touchdowns. In his other 10 starts, Young has 1,673 yards with 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions on 5.6 YPA.
At 6–6, Carolina has burgeoning talent. The defense is taking off under coordinator Ejiro Evero, entering Monday night ranked 18th in yards allowed per game and 14th in scoring. Those might sound middling until you realize the Panthers were last in both categories last year.
Offensively, coach Dave Canales has a pair of young playmakers in free-agent acquisition Rico Dowdle, who has rushed for 871 yards to rank tied for sixth in the league. Then there’s McMillan, the first-round receiver who already has 783 receiving yards to lead all rookies. The line’s pass blocking is the biggest issue still remaining to be fixed beyond the quarterback, as Carolina ranks 27th in pressure rate allowed (38.4%) per NFL Pro.
Ultimately, none of it matters if Canales and general manager Dan Morgan can’t find better play at the game’s paramount position. Going into Monday night, Young had started 38 games (playing in 40). His career EPA is -269.1. For comparison, the embattled Tua Tagovailoa has started 39 games over that same span. His EPA is 123.1.
Since Young entered the NFL in 2023, he ranks 32nd of 32 qualifying quarterbacks (minimum of 900 plays) in EPA + CPOE at 0.029. He’s also last in success rate (41.9%) and EPA per play (-0.074). In short, he’s the worst quarterback in football since joining the NFL after starring at Alabama.
Going forward, the Panthers have their picks after sending multiple first-rounders to the Bears in 2023 and ’24. Carolina may have a chance to take another quarterback in the draft. If Morgan is presented with that opportunity, he can’t hesitate. If the moment arises, the Panthers should take their next QB, allow him to compete with Young for the job in ’26 and then, worst-case scenario, hand him the keys in ’27.
Looking forward, there are a litany of quarterbacks who could be first-round picks, including Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Oregon’s Dante Moore and Alabama’s Ty Simpson, among others. All could be gone before the six-win Panthers pick, but if one is waiting in the green room? Run to the phone.
For Carolina, the best news is the team isn’t locked into a regrettable deal like the Dolphins are with Tagovailoa, or the Cardinals with Kyler Murray. While it’s a brutal loss of draft capital, the Panthers can walk away financially unscathed and go forward with a clean cap sheet, a talented young team and reason to believe the future is brighter than it’s been since Cam Newton was running around Bank of America Stadium.
But to realize the full potential of Canales, Evero and the on-field talent, Young has to be removed from the equation.
It’s clear the Panthers have leveled up. They can’t wait any longer for Young to do the same.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as It’s Time for the Panthers to Move On From Bryce Young.
