Young quarterbacks in the NFL will always have a tough road ahead of them. That’s why teams like the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants have turned to aging veterans with rookies in waiting, as they don’t want to spoil their future’s potential too early. But for teams like the Houston Texans, Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers, they’ve put the future of the team and offense in the hands of young signal-callers of whom much is now expected. While it’s worked out before this year, Week 1 was an alarming start for some of them.
Bryce Young has had a tumultuous start to his NFL career, which largely isn’t his fault. He’s expected to play better than he has through his first two seasons, but his struggles continued to take center stage for the Panthers in an ugly Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Here are Young and two more young QBs we officially need to be worried about after Week 1. This isn’t about overreacting, either; this is about expectations that shouldn’t be hard to reach for quarterbacks that have proven they deserve the keys to their respective franchises.
Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
I wish the Carolina Panthers would have taken better care of Young in his rookie year. That would have kept him from falling well short of the expectations placed on him as the No. 1 overall pick in his draft. The problem with teams that take a quarterback that highly is they feel obligated to start them from game one of their NFL careers. But as we’re seeing, that’s contributing to their struggles rather than their development.
That’s why Young is continuously on underperforming lists like this one. He started his third season with a loss, putting up just 154 passing yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. The Panthers are still far from being a playoff team, but man, Young has to look better than he has to this point.
When Carolina benched him only to be forced to bring him back into the starting lineup for the second half of last year, it looked like a turning point. This year, though, he’s proving he’s still not there yet. And if he can’t get there now, with Dave Canales and Tetairoa McMillan around him, I’m afraid he never will. I’m not saying he’s not talented enough, but he’s not looking good at all. This is the season he needs to put it all together. If the same problems continue to arise, then it’s clear the Panthers may feel the need to move on from him.
C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
This is less about how bad he looked Week 1 and more a hangover from a sophomore slump last year. While the Houston Texans reached the playoffs in 2024, C.J. Stroud regressed from his Rookie of the Year campaign. That’s to be expected, as teams now know how to gameplan for him (and Houston's offensive line did him no favors). But his struggles in Week 1 mean he hasn’t quite figured out NFL defenses yet, which could be a reoccurring problem this year.
Stroud finished with 188 yards, no touchdowns and an interception against the Los Angeles Rams in Sunday's loss. That’s not what you expect out of a player that immediately injected excitement into a team that was at rock bottom just two years ago. The good thing is, there’s 16 more games to get on track; Stroud isn’t a bust by any means yet, but he’s not quite playing at the level we need him to either.
This is the best chance for him to prove he knows how to adjust to the different looks that NFL defenses are going to give him each week. Last year was a learning curve, and some of those same problems are starting to arise already this season. If he fails to improve, he could be headed toward Trevor Lawrence territory.
Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
Bo Nix trotted into Denver and completely turned the franchise around in his rookie season, leading them to the playoffs (though a miraculous year turned sour with an embarrassing loss to Buffalo in the Wild Card round). After how his rookie season went, and then leaning on Drew Brees and Sean Payton this offseason, a big leap was expected.
Instead, Nix had a touchdown pass with two interceptions and a fumble lost in Week 1, and despite the win, he didn’t look like he needed to against a far inferior team. The Tennessee Titans are a rebuilding team, and the Broncos are supposed to be in the thick of the AFC West race. Nix didn’t look like the quarterback of a legitimate contender.
The Broncos are banking on him having a good year, and even though he doesn’t have the best weapons, he has to look better than he did. He’s trending toward what happened with Stroud last season, and that can’t happen. Nix has to look better, especially when he’s playing against teams that aren’t good.
Not all is lost, but things have to improve for these guys. If they continue down their respective roads, their teams are in trouble. Young quarterbacks are fragile, so rash decisions don’t help, but you can’t blame a team for not being patient with someone that’s not improving. Each of these quarterbacks had a bad Week 1, but there’s a lot more room for them to turn things around.