For Bryce Young, this may just be the beginning of what could be a successful NFL career

After graduating from college, Bryce Young seemed ready to take the next step in his football career. The quarterback had a successful college career at Alabama and seemed like someone who could succeed in the NFL. Young was selected by the Carolina Panthers with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft and is now on the bench after playing just 18 NFL games.

Young's stats last year weren't great. In 16 games, he threw for 2,877 yards and 11 touchdowns while throwing 10 interceptions. According to ESPN, his quarterback rating was 33.4 – well below the “good” quarterbacks in the league.

Young's 2023 roster wasn't good. He didn't have the kind of support a player at his position needs to be successful, especially early in his career, let alone as a rookie. The Panthers' first-year head coach Frank Reich was fired eleven games into the season. While trying to develop a young quarterback, Carolina quickly found itself in an unstable environment.

After a 2-15 season — the worst in the NFL — the Panthers hired a new head coach, Dave Canales, for 2024 and, they hope, beyond.

Canales spent 2023 as offensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after spending 13 years on the offensive staff in Seattle with the Seahawks. Canales was credited with helping Geno Smith's resurgence in Seattle. The same goes for Baker Mayfield, who had a bounce-back season in Tampa Bay in 2023.

In two games this season, Young completed 31 of 56 pass attempts for 245 yards. He has three interceptions and no touchdowns. His QBR is 9.1.

Stability is important for young quarterbacks. It is just as important to have the right talent and the appropriate coaching. It's hard enough learning to play this position in the NFL. Some organizations tend to make it even more difficult. Carolina looks like one of them at the moment.

A lot goes into a quarterback's success. There are independent variables. There are dependent variables.

Quarterbacks have to take responsibility. To be successful, they must work hard both physically and mentally. Work ethic is personally monitored. It's up to them to make the quarterbacks work physically on their game. It's up to them to make sure they are mentally prepared. Quarterbacks need to be open to coaching and adjustments. These things are independent of others. But those aren't the only things at play.

Quarterbacks rely on a lot of things that are out of their control. Your success depends on others. They rely on having an offensive line that blocks well enough to allow them to stay in the pocket and make a clean throw. They rely on a good receiver being there to catch the throw. To be successful, they rely on coaches to put them in the best possible position. They rely on trainers to learn and know how to train them.

These are not all the variables that play a role. There's more. This is just a limited look at what quarterbacks need to be successful.

There may be various reasons why Young has not been able to perform well so far. Maybe he needs more talent around him. Maybe he needs to do a better job of doing things he can control. Perhaps Carolina's coaching staff didn't do enough to put him in the best position to succeed. Maybe Young can't do what the coaches want him to do. Maybe he's not the type of quarterback Canales is looking for in his offense.

There are many other scenarios that could have resulted in Young's early career failures. It's not just one thing. Most likely a lot of things add up. It's hard to play quarterback in the NFL. It's even more difficult for a 23-year-old who didn't even have the chance to have a stable environment around him two years before he was drafted.

It's too early to tell if this is the end of Young's attempt to live up to the hype surrounding the first overall pick. Canales helped Smith and Mayfield change their careers. Maybe Young just needs time to get used to Carolina's new offense. Or maybe he ends up somewhere else and in a few years looks like a guy who just needed some time or better coaching to get acclimated to the NFL. After all, we are currently experiencing this situation in other places too.

In Minnesota, Sam Darnold, a former first-round pick of the New York Jets, led the NFL with eight touchdowns through the first three weeks of the season. His 73.5 QBR ranked fifth. Darnold is 27 and in his seventh season in the league. For the first time in the NFL, he is playing at a very high level.

Before the Vikings, Darnold played for the Jets, Panthers and San Francisco 49ers. He looked like a bust early on. He is now coached by Kevin O'Connell, considered one of the best young coaches in the NFL. For Darnold, it may have simply taken some time for him to be around a coach capable of getting the best out of his players to achieve success.

Justin Fields looks more comfortable and better in Pittsburgh than he did with the Chicago Bears. Fields, a former first-round pick like Darnold, leads the Steelers' offense, which is coordinated by Arthur Smith. He looked better every week through three games. Smith, along with head coach Mike Tomlin, could be a great pairing to get the most out of Fields, who has no shortage of talent.

Both examples involve small sample sizes. Three games aren't enough to say that Darnold and Fields are finally living up to the hype that surrounded them coming out of college. But it does provide some context for the idea that a quarterback's mistakes aren't always entirely his own fault.

In most cases, quarterback development is not linear. It's also not the same for every quarterback. Every case is different. Some teams choose to play their guys from the jump. Others don't.

Drake Maye, a first-round pick back in April, is not playing for the Patriots. Caleb Williams, the first overall pick in April, plays for the Bears. Jordan Love did not play for the Packers early in his career. CJ Stroud looked like an MVP candidate at times last year, his first in the NFL. Patrick Mahomes did not play in his rookie season. The list goes on and on. Young played a lot in his rookie season. Maybe he wasn't and isn't ready yet.

The story of Young's career is far from over. Maybe he can't help himself. Maybe the organization is letting him down. It's probably a combination of both. Either way, many quarterbacks need time to fully develop. It doesn't happen overnight. And as we've seen, that doesn't necessarily happen with the team they were drafted by.

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