With the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers selected quarterback Bryce Young from Alabama. The team hopes that Young can hit the ground running and provide some stability at the position after they used four different quarterbacks a year ago. When it comes to fantasy football production in Year 1, though, the odds are stacked against the 5-foot-10 quarterback.
2023 Fantasy Football: Bryce Young Profile
Recap of 2022 season
Young led the Crimson Tide to an 11-2 record and a victory in the 2022 Sugar Bowl over Kansas State. On the year, he completed 64.5% of his passes for 3,328 yards with 32 touchdowns and five interceptions. Young wasn’t much of a dual-threat quarterback and possessed just enough escapability to avoid sacks. He finished with 49 rushing attempts for 185 yards and four touchdowns.
Updated Panthers outlook
Carolina alternated between Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and P.J. Walker last season. The trio combined for 3,187 yards with 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. They were sacked 36 times and had an average QBR of 81.7. None of the three are on the Panthers’ roster, which starts the changes on offense for the franchise.
Christian McCaffrey, D’Onta Foreman and DJ Moore are also all gone. They’ve been replaced by Miles Sanders, Adam Thielen, D.J. Chark, Jonathan Mingo and Hayden Hurst. Young may experience some growing pains, but if all of these offensive pieces stay healthy, he has a ton of upside to being a sleeper in fantasy football.
Best-case scenario
Let’s throw in some context for Young. Last year, Kenny Pickett was selected 20th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The initial plan was for Pickett to sit behind Mitch Trubisky during his rookie season, but instead was thrust into the starting role after a poor performance from the vet. Pickett ended up playing in 13 games and threw for 2,404 yards with seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. He finished as fantasy football’s QB28, according to FantasyPros.
Young should be the Day 1 starter for Carolina. Don’t be shocked if he starts slow, as most rookies do. The Panthers will likely try to establish the run with Sanders and then ease Young into the game plan. His best-case scenario is that he proves doubters wrong, his height isn’t an issue, and he finishes on the better end of the QB13-QB20 range on the season.
Worst-case scenario
The worst-case scenario for Young is that the height concerns ring true, and he struggles to adjust to the NFL. Carolina quarterbacks dealt with league highs for batted-down passes but didn’t seem concerned by it. Young could feel the effects and turn in a dud of a rookie season. Anything past a QB26 finish would be the worst-case scenario, although not an unpredictable outcome.
Prediction
Young has a lot of upside from the talent he showed in college. He is also already adored by the coaching staff, and they are raving about him more than you would typically see. Then, the pictures from rookie minicamp surfaced, and he looks minuscule behind the offensive line. I think Young struggles as a rookie but shows promising signs. He has a good supporting cast to build around and could be a decent streamer with a good matchup, but I think he falls between QB22-QB26.