[The Athletic] How Bryce Young went from slumped shoulders and shaky footwork to soaring confidence

[Joe Bear]

Bryce Young tied for second in the NFL this season in rushing touchdowns among quarterbacks. That’s a statistic that speaks to his much-needed increased willingness to run the ball. It’s an important part of what made Young more successful this year. 

[frankw]

2 hours ago, Joe Bear said:

Bryce Young tied for second in the NFL this season in rushing touchdowns among quarterbacks. That’s a statistic that speaks to his much-needed increased willingness to run the ball. It’s an important part of what made Young more successful this year. 

It's been a welcome addition to his game. The question of sustainability remains though given the circumstances.

[kungfoodude]

On 1/15/2025 at 2:11 PM, t96 said:

It's encouraging. I'm still not totally convinced he can be the guy for us. There are very real limitations there that were not improved on down the final stretch. Honestly I think his absolute best case scenario for us would be Jared Goff level -- which could be fine, but Goff has had his limitations show up in the playoffs too even with his resurgence in Detroit, and Bryce still has a long way to go to get to that level. We don't really have any other options right now (maybe Cam Ward in the draft, but unlikely for many reasons) so Bryce it is for next year and then we'll have more information but I still do think we need to work to find a guy who has potential to be more of a true elite franchise QB like a Mahomes/Allen/Lamar/Burrow, not the potential to be Jared Goff. But next year will tell us a lot more.

Nailed it.

[Joe Bear]

2 hours ago, frankw said:

It's been a welcome addition to his game. The question of sustainability remains though given the circumstances.

His build will always make that a concern in some way, but he has to have this added element of his game to be successful. I was surprised to see he finished second in the league among QBs in rushing touchdowns, but it's a good surprise.

[mav1234]

2 hours ago, Joe Bear said:

His build will always make that a concern in some way, but he has to have this added element of his game to be successful. I was surprised to see he finished second in the league among QBs in rushing touchdowns, but it's a good surprise.

Whenever a QB is a threat to run it in in the red zone it makes it a lot harder to defend. Bryce is elusive and surprisingly fast, and I think he's adjusting to NFL defenders speed. I'm not too worried personally about long term sustainability because he doesn't have hardly any designed runs - his scrambles are just that. 

It's kind of crazy he has as many rushing TDs as he did. His total 2024 TDs at 21 is the most by a Panthers QB since Cam in 2018, and he did that in 12 starts. 

Edited 3 hours ago by mav1234

[t96]

3 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Nailed it.

Hopefully Bryce can surpass that level, but if not we can’t get stuck down a path with him which I fear may happen

[kungfoodude]

9 minutes ago, t96 said:

Hopefully Bryce can surpass that level, but if not we can’t get stuck down a path with him which I fear may happen

Well, being stuck at a Jake Delhomme level isn't all bad(which Jake was really a tier 3 QB and Goff is a tier 2 QB).

If we can get to being consistently winning/competitive that's at least a step in the right direction. I don't think we will ever see a Super Bowl appearance in the Tepper era.

[Joe Bear]

Jared Goff was never a tier above Jake Delhomme. Just gonna throw that out there. Goff is the most overrated player in the NFL.

[PNW_PantherMan]

4 minutes ago, Joe Bear said:

Jared Goff was never a tier above Jake Delhomme. Just gonna throw that out there. Goff is the most overrated player in the NFL.

Well.  Maybe he was the most overrated player.  Lol

[Joe Bear]

Just now, PNW_PantherMan said:

Well.  Maybe he was the most overrated player.  Lol

People still think he's top-5, top-10 for some reason. He has the most weapons of any QB in the NFL bar none, and he still throws interceptions left and right when it matters.

[mrcompletely11]

Clowney had expressed concerns about Young’s energy during OTAs after arriving in Charlotte as a free agent. Young said last week his biggest takeaway from 2024 was understanding the impact his demeanor and energy have on the team.

The Athletic spoke to a dozen of Young’s teammates, coaches and team officials to get a better understanding of what changed for Young during a season in which he went from the league’s lowest-rated passer to one who was among Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded quarterbacks over the final 11 weeks of the regular season.

Like Clowney, they all pointed to Young’s improved body language and fire, which had a galvanizing effect in the locker room. But coaches also used Young’s five-week stretch as Andy Dalton’s backup to refine Young’s footwork and drill into him the importance of urgency in the huddle and pre-snap operation, which Dalton helped demonstrate.

 

I get its probably a formality but its still wild that his if his teammates felt that way that they still voted him captain

Edited 1 hour ago by mrcompletely11

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, Joe Bear said:

Jared Goff was never a tier above Jake Delhomme. Just gonna throw that out there. Goff is the most overrated player in the NFL.

Goff has 100% of the time been a tier above Delhomme. Jake was great for us but he was rarely more than a middle of the pack NFL QB.

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, Joe Bear said:

People still think he's top-5, top-10 for some reason. He has the most weapons of any QB in the NFL bar none, and he still throws interceptions left and right when it matters.

He is still a top 10-12 QB(if you start ranking them you will see how little that can mean). But he is still a second tier QB. He has not and will never be elite. He's in the Dak/Cousins/Matt Ryan tier. Capable of putting up elite numbers but never being truly elite.