Panthers star Jaycee Horn shares what's different about Bryce Young

Carolina's newly-paid Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn identifies one big change for young QB.

Dec 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) calls a play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first quarter at Raymond James Stadium. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The gap between playing quarterback at the college level and in the NFL is one of the greatest challenges any athlete can face. Sometimes even QBs who thrived in college wind up crashing and burning quickly at the pro level, even if they have all of the physical tools they need to succeed.

Frankly, it's amazing that even more quarterbacks don't flush out of the NFL sooner - and that may have more to do with executives staking their jobs on how well their QB performs than their actual ability. It's certainly no guaratee that any QB will work out - even number one overall picks.

While he had a shaky rookie season and first couple of starts in 2024, it appears that Bryce Young has turned the corner and is ready to lead the Carolina Panthers a their franchise quarterback heading into the future. Here's cornerback Jaycee Horn telling ESPN what's changed about Young since his rookie year.

"We definitely knew what we had in Bryce [Young]."@jayceehorn_10 and the Panthers are focused on "putting it together and winning more football games." 📈 pic.twitter.com/QB9QKBNarg

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) March 19, 2025

Confidence isn't everything, but you definitely can't compete at this level without it. The change in Young's confidence level was readily apparent this past season.

In September we saw the same poor body language that we did during Young's rookie year, but by he time the season was over Young's belief in himself had grown by leaps and bounds - he was even a little saucy near the end - especially in the season finale against the Atlanta Falcons.

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