Is Bryce Young’s hot start sustainable for the Panthers?

| Getty Images If you are anything like me, the Monday morning after an NFL Sunday looks something like this. You begin the day by scanning the football media space, looking for insight to help explain what we saw the day before. That means looking at various outlets for their coverage, seeing clips from film analysts starting to break down the All-22 from each angle, and looking through statistics to uncover angles on each game. As I was making those rounds the Monday after Week 2’s Sunday slate, I stumbled across some statistical quarterback rankings, and stopped short. Is Bryce Young absolutely cooking with gas this year? And is it sustainable? At the moment, Young is among the NFL leaders in several statistical categories. On the season he has completed 46-of-73 passes for 648 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception. He ranks second in passing yards, is tied for first in passing touchdowns, is tied for second in first downs (29), and is fifth in Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt with a mark of 9.1. And when you look at Quarterback Efficiency, which measures both Expected Points Added per Play and Completion Percentage Over Expected, you see Young in the upper-right quadrant, along with some of the other big names in the game: (Data and graphic from RBSDM.com). Young is also excelling in the downfield passing game. According to charting data from Pro Football Focus, Young has connected on 8-of-12 passes over 20 yards this season for 286 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. His Adjusted Completion Percentage of 66.7% on those throws — which strips away drops by charting on-target throws — ranks second in the league, behind only Tyler Shough. Yes, we might get a Tyler Shough vs. Bryce Young duel in the NFC South this season. Young was near-perfect on Sunday as the Carolina Panthers knocked off the Atlanta Falcons by a final score of 34-3. He completed 23-of-36 throws for 287 yards and three touchdowns, without an interception, as the Panthers rolled. And scanning through his film against Atlanta, you see reasons to believe this is sustainable, from the concepts Dave Canales is dialing up in the passing game, to Young’s play itself. Take this long completion to Tet McMillan along the right side of the field: Nice little throwback element from Carolina here: — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-21T14:17:46.808Z This is a lovely concept to attack the backside of a Cover 6 coverage from Atlanta. The Falcons are indeed in that coverage with the Cover 4 side aligned over the passing strength — the left side of the offense — and the Cover 2 side over McMillan, who is the single receiver on the right. That gives Atlanta the numbers to perhaps neutralize the passing strength of the formation, with two deep defenders and two defenders underneath. The Falcons then gain a plus-one when Young carries out a run fake, which brings running back Chuba Hubbard across the formation. Young rolls to that side, but his target is going to be McMillan on the backside, running a deep out-breaking route. The route attacks the Cover 2 side, and the run fake works to hold the cornerback down near the line of scrimmage for a moment. He retreats as quickly as he can, but cannot get underneath the throw to McMillan. Young has pressure in his face, but sticks the throwback pass to McMillan for a big gain. Here is a similar concept, against attacking a two-deep structure, this time Cover 2: Similar design concept, similar result: — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-21T14:19:45.574Z Young again uses a run fake, and has McMillan on a deep out route to the left, and a dig route from Jalen Coker on the backside. The quarterback uses a half-roll out of the run fake, and again sticks it on McMillan along the outside. But both routes are wide open for him, and if he wanted to get to that backside dig, he easily could have. He takes the out route as again, the run action holds the flat defender down near the line of scrimmage, helping create a big passing window. Now we can chat for a bit about how Young is handling other aspects of the position. When studying quarterbacks, you can tell when the game is starting to “slow down for them,” by when you start seeing more and more “anticipation throws.” Those moments where the ball comes out well ahead of the receiver’s break, or ahead of the concept, because the quarterback trusts his read of the play, does not second guess any decisions, and knows where to go with the ball. Those are the types of throws that convince me a young quarterback is finally getting comfortable to life in the NFL. So take this completion against the Falcons on Sunday: Look at our diminutive chef cook here. Love the timing and anticipation on this. And a fantastic catch at the end of it. — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-21T14:21:49.760Z Once again, Young attacks a Cover 2 structure with an out-breaking route. But what stands out on this example is the timing and anticipation. Young starts his motion ahead of the break from Coker, then puts the pass in a spot where only his receiver can catch it. This is a good example of the game “slowing down” for a young quarterback. This one, from Week 1, is even better: Interest, piqued. — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-21T15:08:57.271Z On this play from Week 1 against the Chicago Bears, the defense brings eight after the quarterback, playing straight man coverage in the secondary. But Young, in the face of pressure, makes a fantastic anticipation throw to punish the Bears defense for bringing the blitz. To drive this point home, look at the state of play when Young lets this pass fly: McMillan is running an out-and-up on this play, and has just started breaking on the out portion when Young lets this go. But the quarterback knows the pressure is coming, knows the coverage, and knows he has to get this out to capitalize on the situation. Which he does, for a big gain. Again, a sign that the game is slowing down around him. So from scheme to anticipation, things do indeed seem to be trending up for Young. And these two anticipation throws are examples to lean on if you want to make the case that his start is sustainable. But if you want to hit the pause button on that argument, you probably will look to the context. Specifically, the Chicago and Atlanta defenses. These units are not exactly Monsters of the Midway, or anywhere else. Still, this has been a very good start for Young, and the most positive sign from his play is what he has done in the timing and anticipation areas. That is a true benchmark of his growth as a passer. And even when he faces tougher defenses, that will serve him well. And perhaps help sustain his strong start over the rest of the season.

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