Bryce Young guided the Carolina Panthers to the playoffs, but the jury is still out on whether the former first-overall pick can be a legitimate franchise quarterback. On the one hand, he’s improved every year and has shown flashes of game-changing talent. On the other hand, he’s far too inconsistent and only made the playoffs because the NFC South is laughably inept.
In a recent article, Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski ranked Bryce Young and the Panthers as the 20th-best quarterback situation in football. Keep in mind these ratings are based on the end-of-year situation, which means teams like the Kansas City Chiefs were below Carolina.
“The Carolina Panthers won the NFC South for the first time since Cam Newton was named MVP during the 2015 campaign and the team went to Super Bowl 50,” Sobleski writes. “Bryce Young isn’t Newton though. Far from it.”
Bryce Young, Panthers Rank 20th in End-of-Season Quarterback Rankings
Young finished the 2025 campaign completing 62.6% of his passes for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 70.5 PFF grade. The good news is that his completion percentage, touchdowns, and yards per attempt were all career bests, which means he’s improving and can respond to a talented supporting cast.
The bad news is that the best version of Bryce Young is still a below-average starter. Young’s PFF grade was the 26th-best mark out of 42 eligible quarterbacks, and he was well below average in just about every efficiency statistic. Carolina doesn’t have the best offensive weapons in football, but Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker, and the offensive line are all solid.
Nobody knows what the long-term future holds for Bryce Young, but the Panthers don’t need to make a real quarterback decision for at least two more seasons. The Alabama product is under contract for the 2026 season, and the team can use the fifth-year option to keep him around for 2027. If he still looks like a below-average starter at that point, the team might be wise to move on.
Main Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck – Imagn Images
