Former Panthers legend Steve Smith Sr. expresses confidence in QB Bryce Young despite team’s disappointing performance this season

The Panthers drafted Bryce Young with the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Carolina Panthers fanbase has nothing to celebrate about. It has been the case for quite some time now. After ending the season with just 2 wins and 15 losses, the blame for this disappointing showing has fallen on rookie quarterback Bryce Young.

The first overall pick of last year’s NFL Draft failed to make a mark and live up to the hype created around him. In stark contrast, his rival and the man he was pitted against from the second he entered the Draft managed to lead his team to the playoffs.

It was none other than C.J. Stroud, the second overall pick in the Draft, who outplayed Bryce Young and led the Houston Texans to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Due to this, Young is already being dubbed by some as a bust.

However, former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. is of the opinion that the QB should not be blamed for the organizational dysfunction. Smith defended Young on RG3 and The Ones, Robert Griffin III’s podcast.

I liked Bryce Young...last year with Bryce and the Carolina Panthers. The way everything went down tells you. Frank (Reich) gets fired, I said just like other people reported it, Bryce's processing was faster than C.J. (Stroud's). At the end of the day, a smart kid can look dumb if he's around a lot of dumb people.

Steve Smith Sr.

Bryce Young was set to fail by the Panthers in the first year

Smith Sr. is of the opinion that Bryce Young is the last person who deserves to be blamed for the Panthers’ horrendous season record. The entire organization was in shambles and mismanagement was strife throughout the season.

It started with the mid-season firing of Head Coach Frank Reich. Then, despite the appointment of an interim HC, the situation did not get better because the coordination between the players and coaches was not up to par.

Bryce Young (via IMAGO)
Bryce Young is in his rookie year, in a season where he was supposed to learn from veterans and be guided throughout by his coaches, he was thrust into a situation wherein he was virtually left to fend for himself and figure things out on his own. Wideout D.J. Chark did not perform as well as the team had hoped for him to and neither did Miles Sanders. The cherry on top for the offense was the O-line that struggled to block effectively.

Bryce Young cannot be judged based on his rookie season. The reason is that he was set up to fail by his team. He was not surrounded with the right O-line, lack of necessary guidance, and a change at HC in the middle of the season in his first year are all situations that can derail the most experienced QBs in this league.

Hopefully, with Dave Canales as the new HC, the situation in Carolina should improve. If all things pan out well, Bryce Young might feel more comfortable and play like himself this year.