What Mina Kimes said about Bryce Young's big game against the Chiefs

On her latest podcast ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes gushed over how well Bryce Young did vs. KC's blitz.

Tim Weaver | 3 Hours Ago

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 21: Mina Kimes attends the 45th Annual Sports Emmy Awards at Jazz at Lincoln Center on May 21, 2024 in New York City. / (Photo by John Nacion/WireImage)

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Carolina Panthers

As much as he's struggled, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young has always had a cadre of die-hard supporters who always believed he would figure things out at the NFL level eventually. Right now they're looking pretty sharp compared to Young's critics coming off the best game of his pro career, which happened to come against one of the league's best defensive units.

On the latest podcast with ESPN NFL expert Mina Kimes, both hosts were extremely impressed by what they saw from Young against the Kansas City Chiefs. Dominique Foxworth went so far as to say the Panthers played better than the Chiefs and deserved to win that game. Kimes followed up with a big holiday serving of praise for Bryce Young, especially for how he did against the blitz.

Mina Kimes on Bryce Young vs. Chiefs

"Bryce Young balled out, I mean some of the throws - you talked about the anticipation - he was making against the Chiefs blitz were some of the most impressive throws I've seen against the Chiefs defense all year. The Panthers put up the highest EPA per play against the Chiefs defense of any offense this entire season. And I've got to say this to me is the best possible outcome for the Carolina Panthers... I'm not ready to say Bryce Young is back, he's the guy, he's the future, but I would much rather roll into next season and say let's see another year from Bryce and continue building on the defense than panic address the quarterback position. If you're a Panthers fan, you have to be very happy with how this thing is trending right now."

Positive as that glowing review is, we're willing to go one further. Young's performance against the Chiefs represents the break-through that we were looking for to convince us that he can be this team's long-term franchise QB1. It also didn't come in a vacuum - Young had been building towards this over the last few weeks, steadily stacking positive plays and strong starts until he was finally ready to really start slinging it and playing comfortably. That's exactly what we saw on Sunday, and we're willing to bet it's just the beginning.

Unless Young totally regresses and bombs down the stretch of the regular season, we'd be prepared to build the rest of this roster around him. Hopefully the Panthers front office feels the same way.