Bryce Young is short.
Maybe not for the average man, no, but for an NFL quarterback? He’s a little dude. It’s a narrative that has followed Young from even before he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.
It’s also a narrative that has dictated overall belief in Young. Once he struggled in the NFL, the haters were easily able to point out that this guy never looked quite like a prototypical NFL QB in the first place.
The start to this season, though, when Young has led the Panthers to 37 and 34 points while putting up some of the best numbers in the league — including six passing TDs and a rushing TD — has made everyone have to reconsider a bit.
And here’s the reality: Young is looking more and more like a point guard.
Some of the best distributors, playmakers and even scorers from the perimeter in NBA history haven’t been tall, either.
The expectation for height exists more with a quarterback than with a point guard, but the premise is the same — a player who is outsized has to figure out what aspects of their game to improve to overcome that.
Young is starting to figure it out. In a way, he’s playing football a bit more like Steve Nash.
Panthers Speed It Up
The Panthers are running plays early in the play clock, and they’re throwing passes even in situations you’d expect them to run.
In short, they’re pushing the aggressiveness and allowing Young to seize moments that are there for him rather than waiting to let the defense dictate the proceedings.
“The Panthers urged Bryce Young to play faster this year, getting Carolina into plays with time to spare, using his mental capacity to run a smooth operation and get the Panthers moving,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on Wednesday. “In Sunday’s 34-3 win over Atlanta, the Panthers ran a modest 60 plays, about average for NFL standards. More importantly, though, Young is often getting the play off with at least 10 seconds on the 40-second play clock, which is what Carolina wants. Young isn’t imposing physically, but his intelligence and savvy are shining through right now, and the play speed is an example of that.”
Why let the defense set up when you have a prime transition opportunity right in front of you?
Young is showing that, when allowed to lead an offense his way, he can do it quite well.
Bryce Young’s Future
The key question, of course, is whether a quarterback like Young is deserving of a huge contract. Extension rumors will follow him for the next year-plus, as he’s under control through the 2027 season.
There aren’t a lot of precedents for a guy his size. Even Drew Brees, considered a small QB, was a few inches taller than Young.
When he stands at the podium, he looks like the guy running the point for a low-major team trying to turn into a Cinderella in March.
But the proof is in the pudding. Young’s new approach, which feels a heck of a lot like handing the point guard the keys to the offense and letting him run the show, has proven in the early going that it can work.
If the Panthers keep letting Young drive at the speed he, and they, want — this could all work out very nicely.
Panthers’ Bryce Young Shows NBA-Like Growth