Quarterback Bryce Young reportedly is feeling quite upset about being benched by first-year head coach Dave Canales this week. That has some convinced it’s only a matter of time before the Carolina Panthers trade the first pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.
For a piece published Thursday, Bill Barnwell of ESPN explained why Young “probably” doesn’t have much trade value for reasons that go beyond his poor play and his 2-16 career record as an NFL starter.
“Canales said Wednesday trading Young is ‘not something we’re really considering,‘” Barnwell wrote, “and the Panthers don’t have any leverage in dealing him. There are likely a handful of teams that will cross him off their backup list because of his height and extreme struggles at the NFL level.”
Scouts and analysts repeatedly sounded alarms regarding Young’s ability to make the jump from college to the pros after he measured in at 5-foot-10 1/8 and weighed 204 pounds at the 2023 scouting combine. According to Mike Sando of The Athletic, at least one evaluator from a team said at that time that he was “as scared as everybody else” about drafting Young because the Alabama product “is literally my size.”
Shortly after Young completed a rough rookie season with Carolina, former signal-caller and one-time Most Valuable Player Boomer Esiason said that the 23-year-old looked “like he should still be in high school or playing behind the best offensive line in college at Alabama because he is not physically ready to play in the NFL.” That was before Young entered Week 3 of the ongoing campaign ranked last in the league among qualified players with a 9.1 adjusted QBR and a 44.1 passer rating, per ESPN stats.
“My guess is Young would be worth a late day three (draft) pick,” Barnwell added. “Perhaps the Panthers could land a conditional pick that rises in value if he takes regular snaps for his new team.”
Some teams may pass on Young because of how he badly flopped across his first two games playing under Canales, an offensive guru who previously had success working with undersized quarterbacks. How Young responds to his benching beyond this week could also impact his trade value heading into the winter.
History shows some quarterback-needy club will eventually take a flier on Young. If ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler is right about the Panthers and Young not being able to “coexist” following this past Monday’s events, however, Carolina may have to take whatever it can get for the quarterback’s services before next year’s draft.
