Bryce Young’s Comeback Sparks Hope for Panthers in 2025 Season

The Carolina Panthers had high hopes for Bryce Young to shine in his second NFL season, but 2024 kicked off with a familiar struggle. The young quarterback, drafted first overall out of Alabama, couldn’t find his footing early on, prompting head coach Dave Canales to bench him after just two weeks in favor of veteran Andy Dalton.

Yet, Young didn’t sulk. Instead, he dug in, worked hard, and earned his way back to the starting lineup by Week 8. His response to adversity has left a lasting impression, especially on Panthers legend Greg Olsen, who recently shared his optimism about Young’s future. "Bryce showed his true colors last year," Olsen noted, praising the quarterback’s resilience in the face of early setbacks.

Young’s stats in the second half of the season tell a promising story. Over nine starts, with the Panthers going 3-6, he threw for 1,853 yards, 12 touchdowns, and just six interceptions, boasting a 60.4% completion rate. Extrapolated over a full 17-game season, those numbers project to a solid 3,500 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. His final three games were particularly electric—612 yards, seven touchdowns, and zero picks, including two wins.

The Panthers are banking on Young to carry this momentum into 2025, a critical third year where first-round picks are expected to make their mark. To support him, the team has bolstered its roster, drafting Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan in the first round as a potential top receiver and adding seasoned players like Hunter Renfrow to complement Adam Thielen and Xavier Legette. As Olsen aptly put it, "If you don’t have the quarterback position right, everything else is a challenge." For Carolina, the hope is that Young’s late-2024 surge is just the beginning of something special.