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Can Bryce Young Ignite a Panthers Rebuild or Is Carolina Doomed to Struggle?
Every once in a while, a team emerges from the shadows, not with a triumphant victory parade but with a glimmer—a subtle flicker of promise amid a stretch of hardship. That’s exactly the narrative unfolding for the Carolina Panthers as they navigated a trio of nail-biting contests late last season. Though those games ended in defeat, the close calls against powerhouses like the Kansas City Chiefs and Super Bowl contenders reveal a squad on the cusp of something. It’s a fascinating, if frustrating, tableau of near-misses and what-ifs—a team clawing back from the depths, fueled by the raw potential of Bryce Young, whose journey from benching to brilliance is a saga worth watching. The road ahead is anything but easy. Defensive woes linger, and consistency remains a question mark. Yet, with fresh talent arriving and a quarterback showing sparks of genuine promise, hope, that ever-elusive commodity, feels tangible once again in Carolina. For a franchise starved for success, that’s a storyline worth savoring. LEARN MOREAdvertisementBryce Young responded so well after being benched, it’s OK to dream about him being way better in his third season. He was the first overall pick for a reason, and he has plenty of talent around him. The defense probably isn’t going to be good enough, but Derrick Brown’s return and a bunch of new starters could help. If the defense is average and the offense keeps the momentum going from late last season, perhaps the Panthers can take enough shootouts to post their first winning season since 2017, when Cam Newton was still quarterback. Panthers fans would sign up for that.On Sept. 16, a day after the Panthers fell to 0-2 with their second straight game failing to gain 200 yards of offense, they benched quarterback Bryce Young. It seemed like a depressing admission that picking Young — combined with the ridiculous amount of players and picks traded to get that 2023 first overall pick to take him — was a mistake that would set the franchise back for a long time. Everyone wondered if the Panthers would trade Young, though they said they never considered it. It seemed like a difficult place for the team and player to bounce back from. At that moment, Young looked like a bust of epic proportions.
On Sept. 16, a day after the Panthers fell to 0-2 with their second straight game failing to gain 200 yards of offense, they benched quarterback Bryce Young. It seemed like a depressing admission that picking Young — combined with the ridiculous amount of players and picks traded to get that 2023 first overall pick to take him — was a mistake that would set the franchise back for a long time. Everyone wondered if the Panthers would trade Young, though they said they never considered it. It seemed like a difficult place for the team and player to bounce back from. At that moment, Young looked like a bust of epic proportions.
On Sept. 16, a day after the Panthers fell to 0-2 with their second straight game failing to gain 200 yards of offense, they benched quarterback Bryce Young. It seemed like a depressing admission that picking Young — combined with the ridiculous amount of players and picks traded to get that 2023 first overall pick to take him — was a mistake that would set the franchise back for a long time. Everyone wondered if the Panthers would trade Young, though they said they never considered it. It seemed like a difficult place for the team and player to bounce back from. At that moment, Young looked like a bust of epic proportions.
On Sept. 16, a day after the Panthers fell to 0-2 with their second straight game failing to gain 200 yards of offense, they benched quarterback Bryce Young. It seemed like a depressing admission that picking Young — combined with the ridiculous amount of players and picks traded to get that 2023 first overall pick to take him — was a mistake that would set the franchise back for a long time. Everyone wondered if the Panthers would trade Young, though they said they never considered it. It seemed like a difficult place for the team and player to bounce back from. At that moment, Young looked like a bust of epic proportions.
On Sept. 16, a day after the Panthers fell to 0-2 with their second straight game failing to gain 200 yards of offense, they benched quarterback Bryce Young. It seemed like a depressing admission that picking Young — combined with the ridiculous amount of players and picks traded to get that 2023 first overall pick to take him — was a mistake that would set the franchise back for a long time. Everyone wondered if the Panthers would trade Young, though they said they never considered it. It seemed like a difficult place for the team and player to bounce back from. At that moment, Young looked like a bust of epic proportions.
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For a team like the Panthers, who have repeatedly followed up hitting rock bottom by finding an even rockier bottom, wins are preferred to show progress but not mandatory. For three games, the Panthers put a scare into some of the NFL’s best teams, including both Super Bowl participants. They could have won each game. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
In Week 12, they tied the Kansas City Chiefs with less than two minutes left. The Chiefs drove for a game-winning field goal after that, as they usually do, but the Panthers were close to knocking off a Chiefs team that won 15 of its first 16 games and an AFC title.
Best-case scenario
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Nightmare scenario
From Yahoo’s Ben Fawkes: “The Panthers are only favored in three games this season — and they haven’t won a game as a favorite since Sept. 23, 2021. Bryce Young showed some improvement in his second season, but Carolina (+300 to make postseason at BetMGM) will need a lot more to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017. The Panthers have gone under their win total in six of the past seven seasons.”
The crystal ball says
The Panthers are another offseason away from being a playoff contender. Another round of adding talent to the defense is necessary. In the meantime, the Panthers should be surprisingly fun to watch. They’re going to score plenty of points and give up a boatload of them, too. And that’s OK. The Panthers shouldn’t have visions of a playoff berth this season, just growth from young players and Bryce Young in particular. If that happens with a bunch of 38-35 losses, the Panthers can go into next offseason thinking they’re one big defensive draft and some key free agent additions away from competing in the NFC South. Considering where the franchise was the day Young was benched last year, that’s some serious progress.
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