What Nick Saban told Pat McAfee about Bryce Young's supporting cast in Carolina

No lies detected, here.

The Panthers did a pretty atrocious job of setting Young up success during his rookie season - especially the coaching situation. Frank Reich changed the playbook three times before Young had played his first game, helping set up the awful start to Young's career and Reich's own firing.

The supporting cast on offense that first year was particularly terrible, as well. Aside from Adam Thielen there were exactly zero capable pass-catchers on the roster. Young's offensive line wasn't doing him any favors, either.

Fast forward two years and the situation has improved dramatically - especially at the line of scrimmage, where Carolina now has one of the deepest units in the league.

The Panthers have also surrounded young with a few up-and-coming talented receivers such as Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker, who's about to finally make his 2025 debut. They also appear to have a legitimate weapon in rookie Jimmy Horn Jr., who needs to start getting a bigger slice of the pie on offense. Rookie tight end Mitchell Evans is also starting to flash some potential.

Best of all, the Panthers have found a late-blooming superstar to share the backfield with Young in Rico Dowdle, who needs to continue starting and getting the lion's share of carries regardless of Chuba Hubbard's status.

All that being said, Carolina still needs to improve the skill players around Young if he's going to take the next step in his development. There's been precious little production from the 2023 and 2024 draft classes, especially Xavier Legette - who's been a bitter disappointment and has had one solid game all season.

Carolina's general manager Dan Morgan did an excellent job with this year's draft class, but he'll need to follow it up with another good one next year if he expects the Panthers to make the playoffs anytime soon.