NFL Insiders: Panthers Should 'Stick' with Bryce Young as QB1 over Andy Dalton

After starting in Week 8 for the first time since getting benched in favor of Andy Dalton back in September, there is reportedly support within the NFL for Bryce Young to remain the Carolina Panthers' starting quarterback moving forward this season.

According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, team sources believe Dalton will get another chance to start once he is healthy, but sources from other teams feel Young should be the starter since the Panthers "have nothing to lose" with a 1-7 record.

Dalton started five games following Young's benching, but after Dalton sprained his thumb in a car accident, Young got the start in last week's 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos and will start again on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

Carolina used the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft on Young after he starred at Alabama and won the Heisman Trophy, but the transition to the NFL has been a difficult one for him thus far.

Young started 16 games as a rookie, going 2-14 and completing 59.8 percent of his passes for 2,877 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He was given a pass to some degree since Frank Reich was fired as head coach of the Panthers after just 11 games.

Even so, Young was very much under the microscope since the Houston Texans took C.J. Stroud one pick after Young, and Stroud went on to have one of the best rookie seasons by a quarterback in recent history, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

After the hiring of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales as the Panthers' new head coach, there was hope Young would be able to turn things around in his second season.

That hasn't been the case, though, as Young is 0-3 in his three starts and is completing 59.8 percent of his passing attempts for 523 yards, two touchdowns and five picks.

Young showed some signs of life last week against a Denver team that boasts one of the top defenses in the NFL.

Although he threw two interceptions, he went 24-of-37 for 224 yards and two touchdowns, both of which were season highs.

Perhaps most impressively, Young did it without his top two wide receivers, as both Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen were out injured.

Johnson was subsequently traded to the Baltimore Ravens and Thielen is doubtful for Sunday, meaning Young will have to make it work with rookie Xavier Legette and 2023 second-round pick Jonathan Mingo as his top receivers against the Saints on Sunday.

Although a strong argument can be made that Dalton is a better quarterback than Young right now, he is 37 years of age and has no long-term future in Carolina.

He has also struggled in his own right since throwing for 318 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in his first start of the season, as he has thrown for four touchdowns and six interceptions in his past four starts.

If nothing else, starting Young the rest of the way would conceivably give the Panthers a good idea of how they want to proceed with him in 2025 and beyond.