The Carolina Panthers made the move to send second-year QB Bryce Young to the bench, and the QB had quite the reaction to the benching. Young has started just 18 games in the NFL, so on the surface, this benching might be about two months premature. Typically, if an NFL team doesn't know unquestionably that they have the "guy" at QB about halfway through their second season, they don't.
Bryce Young, however, has looked horrible in his 18 starts. There really isn't any other way to slice it. The Panthers have done him no favors, but he's also done himself no favors, and being that he doesn't have a great arm and is the size of a slot cornerback, many of thos size-related issues are becoming more prevalent when he's on the field.
It was the wrong pick by the Panthers in the 2023 NFL Draft and will go down as one of the worst trades and draft picks in NFL history. Perhaps Young riding the bench can be good for him to at least get to a spot where he's a fine backup, but he's not a franchise passer.
Bryce Young reportedly had this reaction to being sent to the bench:
"Even though the consensus opinion is the Carolina Panthers made the right decision to bench Bryce Young after an abysmal start to this season, the 23-year-old quarterback strongly disagrees with the move.Adam Wells
Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, one person described Young as "pissed" about being replaced by Andy Dalton as Carolina's starter"
Pissed? Really? Young shouldn't have had any reaction other than knowing that this was coming, frankly. I guess he's "pissed" that it hasn't worked out, but there may not be a worse start to a QB's career in the 21st century than Bryce Young's.
Through 18 starts, Young is credited with a 2-16 record. He's completed 59.3% of his passes for 3,122 yards, 11 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and earned a 70.9 rating.
For reference, through JaMarcus Russell's first 18 starts, he completed 53% of his passes for 2,964 yards, 15 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and earned a 74.4 rating.
Is it safe to say that Bryce Young has been as bad as JaMarcus Russell? I think so, especially when you consider that Russell was notoriously lazy. There hasn't been anything out there to say that Young comes into games unprepared.
This is just a huge mess for the Carolina Panthers, who must turn to the 2025 NFL Draft to try and find someone different. Someone like Carson Beck or Shedeur Sanders may provide the spark they need to get their franchise back on the right track.