The injury bug has been biting the Carolina Panthers hard ever since the first day of training camp.
That's when they lost second-year edge rusher Nic Scourton to a season-ending knee injury, followed shortly by rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell II sustaining one of his own. Carolina has also had to sideline—to one degree or another—the likes of running back Jonathon Brooks, wideouts Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette, offensive tackles Taylor Moton and Ikem Ekwonu, guard Damien Lewis, defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton and cornerbacks Jaycee Horn.
Fortunately, the Panthers have been largely untouched at quarterback, where Bryce Young has gotten the big breakthrough he needed. Heading into Week 5, he's leading the league in passing yards and ranks
in the top 10 in several other metrics.
Keeping Young healthy is the most critical element for these Panthers going forward—because if he goes down, they are officially toast. That's partly because they might have one of the NFL's worst backup quarterbacks—at least according to one analyst.
Daniel Popper at The Athletic ranks Kenny Pickett as the league's 29th-best second-string passer. He writes:
I see very little upside in Pickett’s game outside of his 27 games of starting experience. He played very poorly in two starts for the Raiders in 2025.
Harsh, but true. It's not like Pickett hasn't had a chance to prove what he can do at this level, either.
If Young goes down, we would honestly rather see what undrafted rookie Haynes King can do rather than giving the ball to Pickett. It was only a small sample size coming against the worst team in the NFC and in the least meaningful contest of the year, but King was impressive enough in the Hall of Fame Game to warrant a real look at what he could do in a real situation.
By contrast, we know what kind of quarterback Pickett is and where his ceiling is at—and it's not likely to get any higher.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers' Kenny Pickett near bottom of backup QB rankings
