Where does Bryce Young-Dave Canales pairing rank among NFL QB/HC combos

The Carolina Panthers have been searching for a QB-coach combination to replace Cam Newton and Ron Rivera since they fired Rivera in 2019. They cycled through Matt Rhule, Frank Reich, Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, and PJ Walker before landing on Bryce Young and Dave Canales. They seem to be the pairing of the future.

But how good are they in terms of the overall league? There are a lot of good coaches and most of them are paired with good quarterbacks. After a stellar finish to the 2024 season, the Canales-Young duo ranked 25th, up from 31st a year ago per SI's Matt Verderame.

"Young wasn’t great in 2025, throwing for 2,403 yards and 15 touchdowns in 14 starts. However, a closer look is more revealing. Over his last seven games, Young passed for 1,583 yards and 11 scores with three interceptions," Verderame said. "That’s a 17-game pace of 3,843 yards and 27 touchdown passes. That works. The biggest reason for this improvement? Canales, who turned Baker Mayfield’s career around and might do the same for Young."

It's hard to argue with this placement since Young was awful before being benched and only played 10 games after returning and the team went 5-12, but there are some interesting choices ahead, notably 24th-ranked Anthony Richardson and Shane Steichen. Steichen is a pretty solid coach who nearly made the playoffs twice, but Richardson has been one of football's worst QBs in two seasons.

The ranking of Young and Canales was an rough average of their individual coach and QB ranks. Canales is the 22nd-best head coach apparently, while Young is 26th. Both feel a little too low, but they have the 2025 season to change that.