Bryce Young: Is He A Bust?

Bryce Young: Is He A Bust?

While I ranked CJ Stroud as my number one quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, I for sure didn’t expect the gap to look so large compared to Bryce Young. Stroud is still playing carrying the Texans to a division title and a playoff win while Young did a great job at being terrible. The Panthers have the first pick in the draft again just a year after selecting the Alabama quarterback. Is it too soon to say Bryce Young turned into a bust? 

Young, 22, recorded an 11-10 TD to INT ratio as a rookie. The former Heisman Trophy winner also averaged 5.5 yards per attempt to go along with a 59.8% completion rate. You don’t need to go with any advanced stats here. The mainstream box score stats speak for themselves. 

Carolina also went 2-14 in his starts after the team won seven games the year before. In fairness, I’m not sure you can hold this one against him. Frank Reich proved to be a horrendous hire and that alone put Young behind the eight ball. Plus, losing DJ Moore in the trade to Chicago didn’t exactly help. 

At the end of the day, who cares about the numbers? Yes, it was ugly but several elite quarterbacks totally bombed as rookies. Go Google Peyton Manning’s rookie numbers. The problem is unlike Manning, Young just looks so damn small.

I think that more than anything is the biggest concern. We knew Young was small. When watching the games he sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s so alarming that I just don’t know if he’s ever going to overcome it. The NFL is a different breed and maybe a 5-foot-10 quarterback is just never going to be built to succeed. Especially if he doesn’t have Kyler Murray’s raw athleticism and it’s not like Murray has lit the world on fire. 

I also don’t think people should totally give up on Young. If I’ve learned anything doing this it’s that players with elite traits usually find a way to figure it out. Even if they’re flawed. Tua Tagovailoa is just too accurate. He was always going to work to some degree. Young was the magic man in college. Go be the modern day Drew Brees. Will the Panthers or any other team develop him correctly to the point where that happens? 

What else do you want me to say? It is what it is at this point. Let’s just be smart about the way we talk about things like this. That’s all that I ask. 

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