Should Panthers select Bryce Young’s replacement in first round of 2025 NFL Draft?

Matt Alquiza | Nov 15, 2024

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Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are facing a Robert Frostian conundrum this offseason. Frost laments the near impossible decision to choose one of two paths in his famous poem "The Road Not Taken," a qualm that Dan Morgan, Dave Canales, and the rest of the Panthers decision-makers are set to face in just a couple of months. To harken back to another piece of literature: to Bryce Young, or not to Bryce Young? That is the question.

It is abundantly clear that some time on the pine paid off for Bryce Young. His improved play has Carolina relishing back-to-back wins as they relax on their bye week, and although Young's arm hasn't necessarily won the team games, his measured play in recent weeks has been a driving force of the offense's overall success. The sophomore quarterback is finally playing like the California-cool pocket maestro that the Panthers drafted in April of 2023, showing flashes of the undersized signal-caller that the football world fell in love with when he was tearing apart SEC defenses in Tuscaloosa.

That being said, it is still fair to wonder if he's done enough to earn the starting quarterback job for the Panthers in 2025 and beyond.

The 2025 free agent quarterback market is saturated with average-at-best quarterbacks, so the Panthers best shot at finding Young's replacement would come in the upcoming NFL Draft. As it stands, Carolina is slotted to pick 10th overall, but with upcoming games against the playoff-hopeful Chiefs, Eagles, Cardinals, Buccaneers, and Falcons, it's safe to assume that the Panthers will continue to climb the draft order into the top five.

There are three quarterbacks in this author's mind that will merit top-ten draft capital. Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Miami's Cam Ward, and Alabama's Jalen Milroe. All three of those signal-callers boast high-level traits worth gambling on with a premium draft pick, and Carolina will assuredly do their due diligence on all three. It is enticing to think about the dynamic potential that each could bring to a Panthers offense that has been stuck in neutral for most of this decade.

However, it's worth sticking with Young under center for one more season. The Panthers roster has too many holes at key positions, edge rusher and wide receiver most notably, to drop another quarterback into. Asking a rookie quarterback to drag a well-below league average defense and set of skill position players to the playoffs is a Herculean task that even the most pro-ready signal-callers would struggle to complete.

Additionally, Ward, Sanders, and Milroe leave much to be desired as prospects. Each boast transcendent traits (Sanders pocket presence, Ward's live arm and athleticism, Milroe's Gen-Z Cam Newton potential) that will entice a frisky general manager, but they all have warts on their profiles as well. This is not the year to draft a quarterback in the top ten.

In a draft class filled with potential impactful defenders (Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter, and Mason Graham come to mind), Carolina would be better off stockpiling talent for Ejiro Evero to work with when they're on the clock in the first round.