Bryce

Young

Carolina general manager Dan Morgan said Tuesday that the team would exercise Young’s option. Young in 2025 showed signs of life as a viable starting NFL quarterback, posting career highs in drop back success rate (45 percent) and adjusted yards per attempt (6.3). Young now has 49 touchdowns to 30 interceptions over three NFL seasons. Morgan added Tuesday that the Panthers were “up in the air” about a long-term deal for Young, 24. He’ll be the team’s starter for at least the next two years in any case.

“We’re still talking through the roster,” Morgan said of a long-term extension for Young, whose play improved in 2025 as the Panthers made the postseason for the first time since 2018. “It’s up in the air and we’re still working through it.” Young in 2025 had a career-high 45 percent drop back success rate, in line with Caleb Williams and Tyler Shough. He also posted a career-best 6.3 adjusted yards per attempt. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported reported the Panthers are expected to pick up Young’s fifth-year option this offseason. It would be surprising if Carolina committed to Young, 24, long term in the coming months.

It never really felt like the Panthers had efficiency on their side in this one, with Young struggling to complete 50 percent of his passes and dealing with plenty of pressure early. But Young hit some big plays downfield, including a 52-yarder to Jalen Coker, and led the Panthers to a go-ahead touchdown drive with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Given the ball with 38 seconds left down three, Young led a quick four-and-out to end the game. Up and down. Up and down. That’s sort of the story with Young in his third season: He proved capable of big games, but more often than not was struggling to get to 200 yards. The rushing touchdown was his third in 18 games this season, so he isn’t providing much there for fantasy managers. Even with some work to the supporting cast this offseason, Young probably will wind up on the low-end QB2 line in 2026 drafts.

Young improved a lot in his third year after a rough first two seasons with the Panthers. The 24-year-old quarterback led Carolina to eight wins, a division championship and the playoffs. Young orchestrated four fourth quarter comebacks and six game-winning drives. He threw for over 20 touchdowns for the first time without increasing his interceptions and lowered his sack percentage. Young led the league in deep ball accuracy with a catchable percentage of 75 percent on passes that traveled at least 20 yards in the air. While Young still has work to do to be a top-15 fantasy quarterback, the Panthers are committed to him for at least the next two years now.

Young’s statline is solid — a vast improvement over his disastrous game against the Seahawks the week prior — and doesn’t include a beautiful connection with Tetairoa McMillan that was wiped out due to a terrible pass interference call. There were some misses, however, and the offense struggled in the rainy conditions in a game where a win would have clinched the NFC South. Now Young will need the Falcons to beat the Saints in order to advance to the postseason. There have been good moments for Young in 2025, but there’s a lot of work to be done before he’s a viable fantasy option.

With the playoffs on the line, Young posted the second fewest net passing yards of his career. Not ideal, to put it mildly. Young was as bad as his box score looks, sailing throws and tossing his interception right to the safety. This was a tough defense while Tetairoa McMillan (illness) was playing at less than 100 percent, but Young can’t still be having these kinds of performances in these kinds of games. He will get a chance to redeem himself in what should be a win-and-in Week 18 contest with the Bucs. (“Should” because there are some Falcons nuances that could get Carolina into the playoffs even if they lose to the Bucs.)

Young put together a solid performance in helping the Panthers take the NFC South lead. The first half was slow, but he finally got it going in the two-minute drill. Young found Tetairoa McMillan for a 22-yard score to give the Panthers the lead heading into halftime. He escaped pressure and scrambled for rushes in the third quarter, eventually finding Ja’Tavion Sanders for a six-yard touchdown after scooting around the backfield a bit. The final scoring drive that led to a go-ahead Panthers field goal was Young’s 12th career game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime. Both touchdown drives and the final field goal drive were to give Carolina the lead. Young is putting together a nice season with the Panthers potentially playoff-bound; he is a QB2 in a tough matchup against the Seahawks for Week 17.

Young was up-and-down as a passer. He threw a nifty sidearm completion to TE Tommy Tremble for eight yards to get around the Saints’ leaping DE Cam Jordan on the Panthers’ second drive. He nearly connected with Tetairoa McMillan for a long touchdown, but the pass was off the mark and Saints CB Quincy Riley batted it down. Riley showed up again on the Panthers’ fourth drive, dropping an easy interception in coverage against WR Xavier Legette. A few plays later, Young found Coker for a 32-yard touchdown down the right sideline, impressively releasing the ball before Coker had fully separated from Riley. Young also scrambled very effectively here, averaging 7.0 yards per carry. He is a QB2 against the Buccaneers in Week 16.

Panthers coaches and front office officials “still believe in” Young despite his ups and downs this season, including a Week 13 meltdown against a weak Niners defense. Young finished the 2024 season on a hot streak after being benched early that season, but started 2025 with baffling decision making and poor throws both in the short areas and downfield. On the season Young ranks 21st out of 33 qualifying quarterbacks in drop back success rate and 30th out of 40 quarterbacks in yards per attempt. Graziano said he expects the Panthers to keep Young around in 2026 “because the cost will be reasonable (around $26.5 million), but then the question becomes what to do after that.”

Young came up big when it mattered most as the Panthers, who entered the day as double-digit home dogs, pulled off the upset. His first touchdown came on a 35-yard score by Chuba Hubbard on a dumpoff caught behind the line of scrimmage, but Young’s next two touchdowns came on long throws in pivotal moments of the game. Facing a fourth-and-three on the Rams’ 33-yard line, Young chucked a go-ball deep to Jalen Coker, who hauled in the pass for a score to give the Panthers a 24-21 lead. Then, in the fourth quarter with his team down 28-24 and facing a fourth-and-two, Young found Tet McMillan deep for a 43-yard score to again put the Panthers on top by three in what would prove to be the game-winner. Young’s play continues to be erratic at times, but this was undoubtedly a good week against a stout Rams defense. The Panthers now enter their bye week sitting at 7-6 and in the thick of the NFC playoff picture. They’ll return in Week 15 to face a woeful Saints team on the road.