Patience Is Paying Off For Bryce Young

I'm not sure when we fell into the collective delusion that first-round quarterbacks should be capable of leading an NFL team on Day 1. Was it induced by the take economy? Is this sports radio's fault? Did Joe Burrow's early success create this standard? I can understand certain teams like the Browns or Jets believing it necessary to have their top draft pick run the offense right away, because they have little hope otherwise, but what's everyone else's excuse? While you may get Andrew Luck or Lamar Jackson on occasion, often these teams just end up stunting the growth of potential stars, who end up having to rehab their careers and abilities elsewhere.

I was thinking about these things Sunday night while watching Bryce Young have arguably the best game of his career for the Carolina Panthers, against the Detroit Lions. Young led the Panthers to a 32-26 win while throwing for 329 yards and two touchdowns on 29-of-41 passing. Second-year wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan was the biggest beneficiary, accounting for 43 percent of the Panthers' total yardage. He caught 14 passes for 192 yards, and accounted for those two TD passes.

Young and McMillan's chemistry has been building since last season, and never was it more useful than when last night's game was on the line. Despite outplaying the Lions for most of the game, the Panthers were in a spot of trouble late in the fourth quarter. After Detroit scored and cut the lead to six, Young and the offense took over on their own 36-yard line with 3:38 left to play. At the very least, the Panthers needed to get a first down and force a few timeouts out of the Lions. A one-yard run by Chuba Hubbard forced the first burned timeout, and then a penalty followed by an incompletion put Young in a tough spot. Suddenly it was third-and-14, only 22 seconds had come off the clock, and Young was scrambling to avoid pressure. That's when he saw McMillan near the sideline, and made an absurd throw to invite an incredible catch:

The Panthers were able to coax two more timeouts from the Lions before punting, and Detroit's final possession of the game fizzled out.

"I trust him so much," Young said of his favorite receiving target after the game. "We have so many banked reps from these two years—offseason, OTAs, all that stuff ... I know the player he is. He's special. I always trust him."

It certainly helped that Young and McMillan were going against what has become a putrid Detroit defense, ravaged by injury and guided by Kelvin Sheppard, a defensive coordinator who might be in over his head for the moment. The Panthers have not been consistent or dominant this year, and entered Sunday's game coming off a bad three-point loss to the Browns. But Young is clearly building off last year's modestly successful campaign (23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions) and surprising playoff appearance. This season, he has nine touchdown passes through four games and has only turned over the ball twice, and he's leading the league in pass attempts. What last night in particular showed is proof of concept: that despite the growing pains and concerns around Young since he was drafted in 2023, surrounding him with talent and quality coaching is allowing him to develop into something close to a franchise quarterback.

I am reminded of this lesson as Cam Ward struggles and grouses in Tennessee after yet another loss, or as Michael Penix Jr. finds some juice against the Packers last week, or as the Raiders' coaching staff wisely puts Fernando Mendoza on ice for awhile. These are not bad quarterbacks, for the most part. They are either being failed or developing at the only pace that they can be developed. With a little luck and a lot of patience, good things can start to happen, as they are now in North Carolina. The Panthers may not be a great team yet, but they are a tough out thanks to the evolution of Young.