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There aren’t a lot of people who can relate to the spot Carolina Panthers quarterback and 2023 NFL draft No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young finds himself in after he was benched by head coach Dave Canales in favor of Andy Dalton following an 0-2 start.
According to The Associated Press, it’s the earliest a quarterback who was a No. 1 overall pick has been benched for non-injury reasons since the beginning of the modern era of the NFL in 1967.
Young does have one defender among the other NFL starting quarterbacks, with Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Baker Mayfield coming to his defense just 2 days after the benching.
Mayfield was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns and unceremoniously shipped out of town in favor of Deshaun Watson just 4 years later. It began a career arc that saw Mayfield on 3 teams in 3 years before finding a home in Tampa Bay.
“Obviously, mine didn’t happen in the same time frame as Bryce, but quarterback’s hard,” Mayfield told NFL.com on Sept. 18. “Especially for young guys when you’re not surrounded with the pieces, you’re not given the opportunity to have success. A lot of the time, guys have the talent, they might have the brains, but they don’t have the right opportunity, the right fit. I’m sitting here right now in a way better fit than the other places I’ve been. That’s not to put other teams down, but it’s a matter of the pieces around you, the coaches. For Bryce, I could relate to this, it’s (about) finding that belief within yourself again. He’ll get it. His story is far, far from finished.”
Mayfield Found ‘Belief’ After Being Discarded
The Browns’ ditching of Mayfield was one of the more cold-hearted and short-sighted moves in recent NFL history and 2 years later Watson is clinging to his starting job and Mayfield is in the discussion as a possible Top 10 NFL quarterback with Tampa Bay and off to a 2-0 start in 2024.
The path here was anything but a straight line. Mayfield was traded to Carolina in exchange for a conditional 5th round pick and eventually benched for P.J. Walker before asking for and receiving his release following a 1-5 start.
Mayfield finished the 2022 season with the Los Angeles Rams, where he showed enough that the Buccaneers turned to him as their starter after Tom Brady’s second retirement, signing him to a 1-year, $4 million contract in March 2023.
Mayfield responded with a career year, going 9-8 while throwing for 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, making his first Pro Bowl and leading the Buccaneers to a third consecutive NFC South Division title.
Tampa Bay rewarded him with a 3-year, $100 million contract in March 2024.
Young’s Career Might Be Over Before it Started
While Mayfield stood up for Young, a fellow Heisman Trophy winner, one look at what’s happened over Young’s nascent career tell a story of a quarterback who appears outmatched by NFL competition.
After a 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2 in which Young had a career-low QB Rating of 6.3, he dropped to 2-16 over his first 18 starts, including a 2-14 record in 2023. In those 18 games, Young has 11 touchdown passes — none in 2023 — against 19 turnovers (13 interceptions, 6 fumbles).
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