The Carolina Panthers’ 2026 season will begin next weekend against the Chicago Bears. That first tilt will give us a good look at two No. 1 picks who could be going in two different directions.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is entering his third year in the NFL, and everything is trending upwards. It certainly helps that Chicago has surrounded Williams with talent—especially one of the league's best offensive play-callers in head coach Ben Johnson and a loaded wide receiver room.
Meanwhile, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is going into Year 4, and nobody knows what to expect. Young has taken modest strides forward since he returned to the lineup in the middle of the 2024 season, but he's yet to have the big breakout that you'd expect from
a top overall selection.
If Young doesn't have an explosive leap forward this year, we may not see him return in 2027. Some analysts even think he might get benched again.
That's what Douglas Clawson at CBS Sports is predicting, anyway:
Bryce Young has slowly taken steps forward in the Panthers offense, capped by going worst to first in the abysmal NFC South last season. Perhaps the improvements have been exaggerated, though. He was 28th in the NFL in EPA per dropback last season and he will be benched in 2026 when he is unable to take Carolina to the next level... The team picked up his fifth-year option this offseason, but the Panthers' brash owner David Tepper won't put up with a step backward from Young.
The Panthers had no choice but to bench Young after two horrendous starts to begin the 2024 season. This year is a different story, though. After a season and a half of improvements and occasionally brilliant games, Carolina has every right to expect a Pro Bowl-caliber type of season from their starting quarterback.
If they don't get it, the Panthers could sub in Kenny Pickett—who’s not going to be the Panthers' next franchise quarterback. While it's a long shot, undrafted rookie Haynes King could be, but the team's best option for the 2026 season is to keep Young on the field as long as he's healthy and let him sink or swim.
Young will either finally break through and perform at a consistent high level—proving he was worth a No. 1 overall pick—or he'll continue to flounder near the bottom of the league in most meaningful passing stats. Benching him to give the ball to Pickett accomplishes nothing in the long run, though. ball to Pickett accomplishes nothing in the long run, though.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Analyst predicts QB Bryce Young will get benched again by Panthers
