Bryce Young skyrockets in final QB rankings for Week 18

Bryce Young has joined the upper echelon.

Dec 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) warms up before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Is Carolina Panthers star Bryce Young a top-10 quarterback? Most would say no. He doesn't have the stats to back that claim up, and the Panthers are 4-12. Top 10 quarterbacks also usually don't spend five weeks on the bench during a season.

However, looking beyond the stats and when shrinking the sample size to since his return, Young certainly looks close to that upper echelon of QBs. NFL.com insider Nick Shook did the final quarterback power rankings going into Week 18, and Young enjoyed a massive jump.

Bryce Young jumps up in final QB power rankings of 2024 season

Last week, Bryce Young was ranked 22nd overall out of all quarterbacks. Given the overall body of work, which includes last year and his first two starts in 2024, it was hard to really complain about that placement.

However, utilizing recency bias since the NFL is all about what a player has done lately, Young looks so much better. He looks like a borderline top-10 quarterback, and that's how Shook ranked him. He jumped up 11 spots to rank 11 before his final outing of the season.

"If you play the tape from this game and compare it, side by side, with film from the first two weeks of 2024 or any of last year's footage, you might come to the same question at which I arrived last weekend: Was Carolina previously sending out a body double for Young?" Shook said. "He looks like a completely different quarterback now, throwing sharp passes with remarkable confidence and handling pressure almost as if it doesn't exist at all. Young went toe to toe with Baker Mayfield early in this contest before cooling off, yet he still had one of the best games you'll ever see from a quarterback on the wrong end of a blowout loss. The Panthers didn't lose this game because of Young, and he's convinced me he'll have a bright future in Charlotte as long as Dave Canales remains his coach."

Despite being beaten 48-14, Young's performance in the loss was more than enough to move him up. He also had three touchdowns in an overtime win the week before, so the young QB is absolutely trending in the right direction. He has five touchdowns without a turnover in his last two games. Since returning from the bench, Young has 15 touchdowns to eight turnovers.

Some notable names that Young ranked ahead of this week include Matt Stafford, Kyler Murray, Brock Purdy, Bo Nix, Geno Smith, Russell Wilson, Drake Maye, Caleb Williams, Aaron Rodgers, and CJ Stroud.

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