Ever since Carolina Panthers drafted Bryce Young first overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, there’s been a heavy amount of scrutiny toward him.

Carolina had unloaded its treasure chest of assets to move up to the first overall pick to get him, and with that came ultimate pressure.

To say it’s been a bumpy ride since he’s come into the NFL, would be an understatement.

His rookie season was as bumpy as it got. Immediately, Young was placed into a starting role, with a limited amount of resources. Ultimately, it led to him throwing for 59% completion with just 11 passing touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

It got even worse in his sophomore season where he was benched after two games – and the doubt started to creep in that perhaps Young wasn’t the guy Carolina thought he was after all.

But then after an injury to Andy Dalton, Young was put back in the spotlight, and he made sure not to let it go.

No, it wasn’t the best season by any stretch of the imagination, but if you asked Panthers fans, they would’ve gladly taken the performance he gave from Week 8 until the end of the season.

Two of the problems early on in his professional career was that he was sacked way too much and he was turning the ball over a ton. However, after he came back from the benching, he limited his turnovers in a major way.

In the final 10 games, he threw six interceptions, which may seem like a lot, but within that frame, allowed the promise of the franchise to seep in.

He led Carolina to wins against the Giants and Saints, then kept it extremely close with teams like the Bucs, Chiefs and Eagles, and then pulled out overtime wins against the Cardinals and Falcons.

Fast forward to this season, and it’s just another step in progression for Young and the Panthers.

They’re at the .500 mark for the first time since the 2021 season, and he’s helped Carolina win three out of its past four games against the Cowboys, Falcons, and a dramatic comeback win against the Dolphins. 

It only led to the question popping back up – is Young a viable franchise quarterback?

Canales seems to think so.

"That (belief) makes me feel confident that I can just continue to call the game that's supposed to be called vs. having to make adjustments based on what the quarterback feels," he confessed to Charlotte Observer's Scott Fowler. "And Bryce gives me confidence to just call whatever's on the sheet for whatever the area is, and we can just build from there."

NFL Insider Jordan Schultz even took to X to suggest that there’s a lot of internal belief that Young is the quarterback to take them to the promised land.

The path to greatness in Charlotte has certainly been arduous, but as the old saying goes “tough times don’t last, tough people do.” 

Young was one of Nick Saban’s final projects – and if anyone is going to succeed, it’s someone that Saban helped develop.