Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers finished with a losing record in 2025 but still managed to win the NFC South and even give the Los Angeles Rams some fits in the Wild Card Round. Young played the best football of his career in year three and threw for 23 touchdowns against 11 interceptions, finishing with a modest 87.8 passer rating.
However, he was still largely an underwhelming, forgettable quarterback, and the clock should truly be ticking for Young. He was the first overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft and has still largely been a bad quarterback.
This fourth year in the NFL might be a make-or-break season. Yes, there is no denying the progress he made as a passer in 2025, but there simply has to be another level Young has to reach if he wants to establish himself as a franchise passer, and not the 20th-best quarterback in the league.
Carolina as a whole obviously made a ton of strides since Young's rookie year, so the team is trending in the right direction, and the roster is largely good. Much of the team's success is up to Young.
Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
It's not that Caleb Williams has been bad - he's been quite good for the Chicago Bears through his first two years in the NFL, but after the progression this team made from 2024 into 2025, the pressure is only going to get greater for the Bears to take another step forward and perhaps flirt with a Super Bowl berth in 2026.
With how desperate Chicago has been for a stable football franchise, getting as close as the Bears did in 2025 should only amp up the urgency for the entire operation, and while Williams has been a slam-dunk pick for Chicago, that completion percentage is a huge red flag that simply has to improve for 2026.
This has to honestly be the year for the Bears in some respects, as Williams is likely going to sign a massive extension next offseason, and slowly but surely, the Bears financial capability to build a top-tier roster takes a hit as the contract begins to hit the books.