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Radio host poses wild CJ Stroud question for Panthers' Bryce Young

Is there now an actual debate between Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud?

Matthew Schmidt

Oct 29, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) and Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) after the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Oct 29, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) and Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) after the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
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The Carolina Panthers ended their regular season with a win on Sunday, defeating the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 44-38 in overtime. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young had quite the afternoon, going 25-for-34 with 251 yards and three touchdowns while also punching in a couple of rushing scores.

Young ended the regular season with 2,403 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 60.9 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 249 yards and six scores. The former No. 1 overall pick achieved those numbers in 14 games and 12 starts, and it's important to remember that he was briefly benched in favor of Andy Dalton earlier in the year.

Young certainly ended the 2024 campaign on a positive note, totaling seven passing touchdowns and no picks over his final three games and has been playing so well that some are beginning to start a Young vs. C.J. Stroud debate again.

As a matter of fact, Justus General of WUFO 96.5 wonders if Young could even be better than Stroud at this current juncture.

Honestly, yes: it probably is a bit too farfetched to say that Young is better than Stroud right now. A few good games does not a make a good quarterback, and there is very little question that Stroud has been the superior player to Young, even in spite of his struggles this season.

Remember: the Houston Texans selected Stroud one spot after Young in the 2023 NFL Draft, and after Stroud's historically great rookie campaign, it appeared that Carolina made a colossal mistake.

But now, the gap between Stroud and Young has been closed, even if only slightly.

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Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and some college. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.Net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.