Now that's the Bryce Young we've been waiting to see. The 2023 No. 1 overall pick continued his hot start to the season Sunday night with a 32-26 win over the Detroit Lions where he threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns while completing 70.7 percent of his passes.
With that performance, Young now leads the NFL in passing yards through four weeks, he's tied for third with nine touchdowns and fifth in QBR. He looks like the Heisman winner who led Alabama to a national championship game. And to think the Panthers actually benched him for Andy Dalton two years ago.
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Benching Young wasn't an unpopular move at the time. He hadn't figured it out yet. Never mind he was only two games into his second year, and the Panthers hadn't actually constructed a good
team around him. Patience was wearing thin, and the quarterback who was drafted one pick after Young was lighting it up in Houston. So, first-year head coach Dave Canales pulled the plug.
Young wore a giant bust label on his forehead the next five weeks as Carolina sputtered to a 1-6 record. His time on the bench would have lasted longer if Dalton hadn't injured his thumb in a car accident. Young played well enough in his return to keep the job, and his arrow has been pointing up ever since. Now, C.J. Stroud is the player from that draft people want to run out of town.
There's been no better recent example of how non-linear (and dependent) quarterback success can be in the NFL. And why teams have to exercise patience with young quarterbacks drafted into often bad situations. How dare they not fix your mess right away?
I'm reminded of this when watching the struggles of Cam Ward to turn the Tennessee Titans into a winner... then struggle to have a non-awkward press conference, answering repeated questions about why he's incapable of doing more for a team that was 3-14 before he even got there. The media is only doing its job in seeking answers, but I understand if that causes him to harbor some resentment. I also understand how his potential bitterness might turn the media against him, thus increasing the scrutiny of a young quarterback still developing.
It's a vicious cycle that'll never end because everybody in the NFL is on the clock. From the GM to the coach to the 53rd man on the roster. But it's worth keeping in mind before writing off a player too soon. They might be a bust... but they also might just be a late bloomer. If they're not in the right environment to figure that out, that's when you get players like Sam Darnold and Geno Smith who blossom later in their careers in better situations.
NFL referees are getting testy
Are NFL officials OK? I ask because there were some incidents Sunday that make me question what's going on with the folks in stripes.
The most-discussed moment was when a side judge, Jeff Seeman, appeared to toss an NSFW insult at Cardinals tight end Trey McBride. It's hard to tell what provoked him, but that mattered little to NFLPA executive director J.C. Tretter, who scolded Seeman in a message on social media.
That wasn't the only low moment for refs. In the Dolphins-Vikings game, Adrian Hill flipped out on Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson simply for getting pushed into Hill. A completely irrational response to what had transpired.
Have officials always been this confrontational and we just have more cameras to show it? Or is this a new phenomenon being egged on by players? I'm not sure the answer to that but it may behoove these guys to seek therapy and gain some cooling-down skills before fans start crying over hidden biases. They've been known to do that from time to time.
Quick hits: Drake Maye is back ... Pats-Bills beef ... and more
- Drake Maye used one telling word to describe his first good game of the 2026 season. His stellar performance leads the best and worst of NFL Week 4.
- Mike Vrabel dunked on C.J. Gardner-Johnson after what the Bills safety had to say about a Patriots "practice squad player."
- Ravens coach Jesse Minter shared an encouraging update on Lamar Jackson's ankle injury... Cincy's update on Tee Higgins' abductor injury wasn't as good.
- Saquon Barkley managers will need to find a replacement on the fantasy football waiver wire for Week 5.
- Indiana Fever GM Amber Cox left no doubt about Sophie Cunningham's future ahead of free agency.
- Ben Johnson all but confirmed he was trolling the Bears' so-called quarterback controversy with the formation of his first play in Sunday's game.
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This article originally appeared on For The Win: Bryce Young's bust-to-boom career arc is a lesson in patience with young QBs
