According to Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young struggled in his first year, but Smith believes that most of the blame should not fall on Young. Smith suggests that Young needs more talented players around him and that his situation is more challenging than that of other quarterbacks from the same draft class who have better statistical performances. Smith emphasized that a player’s performance is greatly influenced by the caliber of teammates. Young, playing behind a subpar offensive line, faced consistent pressure in his rookie season, which affected his confidence. The Panthers’ head coach, Frank Reich, was fired after a dismal 1-10 start to the season. Young was the top overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and was expected to be the franchise’s savior. In his final season with the Crimson Tide, Young posted impressive stats, but his transition to the NFL has been challenging due to the circumstances he faced.
These results followed Young’s sophomore Heisman Trophy victory. At Tuscaloosa, Young concluded his career with 8,356 passing yards and 80 passing touchdowns under Nick Saban’s coaching. His figures are just lower than those of AJ McCarron (9,019) in passing yards during his time at Alabama and Tua Tagovailoa (87) in career throwing touchdowns. As the first-ever Heisman-winning signal caller for the institution, Young set single-season records for the most throwing yards (4,872), passing touchdowns (47) and total touchdowns (50).
Young, a former 5-star prospect out of Mater Dei High School in California, was selected 42nd overall in the first round by Alabama during the 16-year period that Nick Saban has been coaching in Tuscaloosa. According to 247Sports, he was the top quarterback recruit in the country and the top overall prospect in 2020.
