Football News

It's been just shy of a calendar year since Bryce Young was taken No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.

As all sights are set on Detroit and the 2024 NFL Draft, in which USC quarterback Caleb Williams is presumed to be the next top pick, the Carolina Panthers quarterback is looking forward while hoping to learn from his rookie travails.

"I just want to be the best version I can," Young said this week, via the team website’s Darin Gantt. "Obviously, we have a lot of change in the system. New coaching staff, a couple of new pieces. So, it's going to be a great opportunity for us to grow and build together. But, I think as a team, individually, all combined, I think we learned a lot and grew a lot. Obviously, it was not the year we wanted to have last year. But, you know, you're able to learn from those experiences."

In Young's rookie experiences, the negative far outweighed the positive, often times reaching historic levels of struggle.

Young was 2-14 as a starter (he missed one game due to injury) in 2023, completing 315 of 527 passes (59.8%) for 2,877 yards (179.8 per game), 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Since 2000, 14 quarterbacks have been selected No. 1 overall and recorded at least 150 passing attempts as a rookie. In that time, Young's 12.5 winning percentage was second-worst to only Jared Goff with the Rams, as he went 0-7 as a starter, per NFL Research.

His yards per game (10th), passing yards per attempt (5.5; 11th), TD:INT ratio (eighth) and 73.7 passer rating (eighth) also sounded historical alarm.

Perhaps most worrisome was the 5-foot-10, 200-pounder took 62 sacks, second only to Sam Howell last season in the NFL and second only to David Carr among rookies since 2000. Carr's 76 sacks taken remain an NFL record.

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Jared Goff Caleb Williams Sam Howell