The Carolina Panthers have ruined Bryce Young

The NFL is an unforgiving place, a fact that Carolina Panthers and former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young has had a crash course in over the first 18-starts of his career.

The results for Young in his short NFL career have been abysmal. The former Heisman Trophy winner was statistically one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL as a rookie, a fact made worse by the No. 2 pick in the same draft, CJ Stroud, immediately leading the Texans to the playoffs while the Panthers won just two games.

There was hope, with a new coaching staff, that things would get better for Young and the Panthers in 2024. But through two games, it's been worse. The Panthers got destoryed by the division-rival Saints in Week 1, and were similarly demolished by the Chargers in Week 2.

His 33.4 QBR in 2023 ranked 29th out of 32 eligible quarterbacks last season, and through two games he's sitting with a QBR of 12.3.

Patience is wearing thin among Panthers fans as they booed Bryce off the field after an interception in the first half against the Chargers. But their patience should be wearing thin on an organization that has done nothing to set the QB up for any success.

Of course, trading up from No. 9 to acquire Bryce in the 2023 draft put the organization behind the eight-ball as they gave up precious draft capitol to the Bears to do so, along with trading their No. 1 WR in D.J. Moore, who would have been a nice safety blanket for a young quarterback to have.

Currently, the team's best receiver is a 35-year-old Adam Thielen. They drafted South Carolina's Xavier Leggette with the 32nd pick, but it remains to be seen whether he can be a difference maker or not. Carolina did nothing to improve one of the league's worst offensive lines, using none of their seven picks in last year's draft to address the line. They have a first round pick at LT, but a bunch of replacement level players at the other four spots.

Bryce is surrounded by one of the league's worst supporting casts, and it's hard to imagine any young QB finding success with what he's been surrounded with in Carolina. A smarter organization would have realized the dearth of talent and would've let a veteran QB like Andy Dalton take the beating instead. Let Bryce sit until you've set him up for success.

It's not a talent issue with Bryce, though plenty of armchair quarterbacks on twitter believe the guy who was a five-star recruit in high school, a Heisman Trophy winner in college, and the No. 1 pick in the draft is without talent. Confidence is another issue, as NFL defenses have beaten any shred of confidence Bryce had out of him.

He played with an unbridled amount of confidence at Alabama, even when he didn't have the same level of talent at the skill-positions afforded to his predecessors in Tuscaloosa Mac Jones and Tua Tagovailoa.

He was a magician in college, able to make plays out of nothing, escaping sacks and throwing darts all over the field. He always had a smile on his face, even in the midst of adversity. He's not smiling much these days. If you watch a Panthers game, Bryce looks miserable. The circumstances have overwhelmed him; the lack of belief by the organization, fanbase, and the poor results on the field have zapped the love of the game he always played with.

Another lost season in Carolina will have the Panthers re-evaluating everything. They will seriously consider drafting a QB with the No. 1 pick if they finish with the worst record in the NFL again. Bryce's career could be winding down before it ever really got started, though a change of scenery could ultimately be a blessing in disguise and give him a chance out of the spotlight with an organization better equipped to surround him with talented players and keep him upright to resurrect a career that currently labels him as an all-time draft bust.