After being the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young had a difficult first season in the NFL. Now, after just that one season, there are those who don’t think he’s capable of being successful in the NFL.
Recently, on his show, Craig Carton ripped into Bryce Young, saying he will never be a good NFL quarterback.
“Bryce Young is not an NFL quarterback, and I’m not saying he’s not a good kid or a great athlete, clearly he is,” Craig Carton said. “But Bryce Young at five-foot-two cannot be a successful quarterback in the NFL.”
Midway through Young’s first season, Carolina fired head coach Frank Reich. Since then, Dave Canales was hired to replace him, with the hope that the coach who revitalized Baker Mayfield and Geno Smith‘s careers can do the same for Young. However, Carton doesn’t care about that move.
“I don’t care what Coach Canales has done in his past and I respect his resume…but this is why I said back in April of a year ago that CJ Stroud was the obvious number one pick and if you took Bryce Young you were making a mistake and you can check the tapes, I said it because as great as he was in college, as smart as he is, as athletic as he is, he’s not an NFL quarterback.”
Consistently, Craig Carton made it clear one of the major issues he has with Bryce Young is his height, even comparing him to Dave Meggett and saying he’s more like a receiver than a quarterback.
“To me, he’s like Dave Meggett. He’s like a third down specialty back or maybe a slot receiver on third and two. He’s not an NFL quarterback. He will never have success in the NFL and it was one of the worst picks a team has ever that a team has ever made in the history of the NFL while picking number one.”
At this point, Carton got pushback from the rest of the panel on his show. In particular, because of the lack of talent around Young and his track record of success at Alabama. However, Carton dismissed those concerns by saying, “You can’t be five-six and play in the NFL,” and claiming college success was due to the spread offense.
“This is not a personal knock on Bryce Young…he’s more of a run and shoot receiver is what he is. He’s not a quarterback. I’m sorry that you guys don’t want to see it that way,” Carton said. “He’s not an NFL quarterback and he never ever, ever, ever will be.”
With just one NFL season under his belt, Bryce Young has plenty of time to prove Craig Carton wrong.
More must-reads: