Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is only 24 years old and is prepared to start his third season in the NFL.

But with the trials and tribulations he’s faced adapting to the league, you’d think he’s been in the league for much longer.

Young was a superstar quarterback while with the University of Alabama. He led the Crimson Tide under Nick Saban’s tutelage to the National Championship in his first season as a starter, but ultimately lost to Georgia as well as a Sugar Bowl victory.

Not only that, in the season he led the Tide to the National Title game, he captured the Heisman Trophy, the AP Player of the Year, the SEC Player of the Year, was a consensus All-American, among several other accolades.

The writing was on the wall for Young to be legit. He had superstar written all over him from the way he saw the field, as well as the way he carried himself off it.

That’s why the Carolina Panthers threw everything they had at the Chicago Bears, who owned the first pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. They had a guy in mind, and that guy was Young. With that, Carolina traded wide receiver DJ Moore, the ninth overall pick in 2022, a first-round pick in 2023 (which turned out to be the first overall pick), and a few other picks.

After being selected first overall because of the trade, the expectations were at an all-time high for the former Heisman winner.

Young was renowned as someone who excels under pressure, but this may have been a situation in which he couldn’t escape.

His rookie season was a flat-out disappointment. Then-coach Frank Reich named him the starter, and after starting 16 games, Young threw for 11 touchdowns, but an abhorrent 10 interceptions – all on 59% completion.

It got even worse in his rookie season. He had a new coach in Dave Canales, who was well known for turning quarterbacks’ careers around, but it felt like Young continued to spiral.

In the first two games of the 2024 season, Young was sacked six times, threw zero touchdowns and three interceptions. It was then that Canales benched Young for the veteran Andy Dalton.

In what many saw the move as the beginning of the end for Young’s career, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It allowed Young to sit back and study the game from a bird's-eye view.

Dalton started the following five games until he suffered a thumb injury and which forced Young to get back into the fold.

And he didn’t look back.

Young threw a touchdown pass in every one of the games he started in, totaling 15 passing touchdowns, and was limited to just six interceptions.

With Young’s ascension toward the second half of the season, the expectations are higher than they were from last season, but not as high as it was when he was drafted.

The perfect medium.

Giving him the perfect amount of space to do what he’s used to, and not having to be someone he’s not.

Not only that, he has a myriad of high-end weapons, most notably wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who is the perfect type of player to catch 50/50 balls – someone that Young didn't have in his first two seasons in Charlotte.

Alongside McMillan is Xavier Legette, the former first-round draft pick, and Jalen Coker, who performed well last season. Coker will serve the first four games on IR, but his return will be massive for Young down the stretch.

So what’s next for Young? Getting back to the level he was playing while he was in college and bringing the Panthers back to the playoffs.