The Carolina Panthers’ young season has been impressive for all the wrong reasons.
Through two weeks many were wondering if the Panthers were fielding the worst NFL team of all time. Carolina was nothing short of embarrassing in both of its games, falling to the New Orleans Saints 10-47 in their first game and 3-27 to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
The Panthers are trying to do whatever it takes to get things figured out before it’s too late. On Monday they made the shocking announcement that they’d be benching last year’s first overall draft pick, quarterback Bryce Young, and starting veteran Andy Dalton instead.
This sent waves through the NFL World, as people found it hard to believe the team was giving up on Young after only 18 career starts. It doesn’t appear that everyone is quite as shocked though.
Prominent ESPN personality Stephen A Smith spoke about Young on First Take, and he didn’t hold back.
Stephen A. Smith rolls out the brutal statistics of the Bryce Young era in Carolina before calling him "maybe the biggest bust in NFL history."
"Ladies and gentlemen, JaMarcus Russell wasn't even that bad." pic.twitter.com/b0JA7NHVgk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 17, 2024
“When he was picked number one overall, I didn’t hear a lot of people ‘poo-pooing’ that, to be fair to him,” Smith said, “but it’s been an unmitigated disaster. I wanna keep y’all in mind. I wanna throw some numbers out here for you, [Shannon Sharpe], and for you, [Domonique Foxworth]. Do you know in the last 10 games — 10 games — the Carolina Panthers have led for only 10 seconds? They’ve had a lead for 10 seconds over the last 10 games. I mean, that is an atrocity. We’re looking at Bryce Young right now. You’re talking about among 32 quarterbacks with at least 250 attempts, his record is 2-16 — worst in the NFL; 59.3% completion percentage — dead last; 173.4 passing yards per game — 31 of 32 quarterbacks. That’s where he ranks.
“The only person that was worse, dating back to last season, is Kenny Pickett. Last in yards per attempt, last in touchdown percentage, [and] last in passer rating. This is what we’re talking about; and he’s completed just 38% of his passes in his career with one touchdown and five interceptions when under pressure. Ladies and gentlemen, JaMarcus Russell wasn’t even that bad; and you know how I felt about JaMarcus Russell. I mean, this is maybe the biggest bust in NFL history. These are the kind of things that are starting to be brought up.”
It’s brutal to hear Smith speak so bluntly about Young’s career thus far, but it’s hard to argue he’s wrong.
