Bryce Young stuck behind two rookies in Sporting News NFL quarterback rankings

Matt Alquiza | Aug 26, 2024

Aug 24, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) warms up before a pre-season game against the Buffalo Billsat Highmark Stadium. / Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL world as a whole has forgotten about Bryce Young's pedigree. The Carolina Panthers' quarterback entered the 2023 NFL Draft with a deep bag of accolades. National champion, Heisman trophy winner, two-time All-SEC, Maxwell award winner, and consensus number one overall player in his draft class. His disappointing rookie season, which was partially his fault, and partially due to his disastrous surroundings, threw everyone off the scent. An impressive drive (albeit against the Bills' reserves) during Carolina's preseason finale in Buffalo have folks dreaming of a second-year breakout for Young, while others are steadfast in their belief that he's a bottom tier quarterback in the NFL.

Sporting News' Vinnie Iyer recently dropped his rankings of NFL starting quarterbacks, slating Bryce Young at number 28 overall, only ahead of Bo Nix, Sam Darnold, Gardner Minshew, and Drake Maye.

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The most curious part of these rankings is Young's standing compared to rookie signal callers Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels. Both Williams and Daniels posses bright NFL futures, but slotting them above Bryce Young before they even take a snap in a regular season NFL contest is absurd.

Ranking those two quarterbacks above Young solely on their collegiate credentials is silly. All three players are Heisman trophy winners, but only one of them competed in the College Football Playoff. Bryce Young. All three of them were drafted to rebuilding franchises, but only one of them has stared down an NFL defense and led his team on a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Bryce Young.

The careers of these three players will be linked forever. Williams was chosen by the Bears with a pick originally owned by the Carolina Panthers that was acquired in a trade for the rights to Bryce Young. If Carolina never made the Bryce Young trade, they would have had their pick between Williams, Daniels, or New England's Drake Maye.

In three or four months, those rankings may look pretty good. By no measure is Young guaranteed to have a better NFL career than the first and second overall picks in the 2024 NFL draft. But to rank them ahead of Bryce Young before either of them take an NFL snap is a fools errand. And if Young's brief preseason performance carries over to the regular season, those rankings may look foolish in due time.

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