Carolina’s Derrick Brown says critics underestimating Bryce Young are being forced to change their minds after Young’s breakout 2025 season, a run that helped the Panthers return to the postseason for the first time since 2017.
The Panthers didn’t just win the NFC South last season — they did it in a way that forced everyone to pay attention again. Carolina clinched the division via a tiebreaker with an 8-9 record, ending a postseason drought that dated back to 2017. And just as important in the background: it marked the first time the franchise made the playoffs with quarterback Bryce Young under center.
Young, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 draft, has turned that opportunity into a season his teammates can point to with confidence. In 2025, he completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 3,011 yards, throwing 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also added 216 rushing yards and two rushing TDs. Those numbers are exactly what defensive tackle Derrick Brown — Carolina’s first-round pick back in 2020 — pointed to when he pushed back on the doubts surrounding Young.
“He’s our guy,” Brown said in an interview on Chris Long’s Green Light podcast, via NFL.com. “We ride with [No.] 9 all the way through. That’s one of those things that people don’t want to admit how good he’s becoming because they’re going to have to go back and admit how wrong they were. As we all know, people don’t like doing that.”.
Brown’s frustration isn’t theoretical. It comes with a timeline. In Young’s first season, he started 16 games. In his second year, things unraveled early: he was benched after two particularly poor games, completing just 31-of-56 passes for 245 yards with three interceptions while taking six sacks.
But when Andy Dalton couldn’t play due to injury a few weeks later, Young returned — and he didn’t hand the starting role back.
That response is the part that left an impression on Brown. “He took the benching and, man, he just came into work every single day and killed it,” Brown said. “He didn’t care. He went right back to doing what he does. To him, it was about playing football.”
The defensive tackle also spoke to the psychological grind that comes with Young’s position. not sugarcoating the pressure even as he supported him. “I’m going to be honest. I know everybody’s got an opinion about him. but I would never want to be a quarterback in the NFL. It might be the worst job to have. It’s the highest-paying, but it is the worst job to have in the NFL. I salute Bryce every single day. just dealing with all the outside noise and then still being able to come in there and be efficient in the work.”.
Carolina’s belief isn’t only emotional — it’s financial. The Panthers picked up Young’s fifth-year option, setting him up for a guaranteed salary of $25.904 million in 2027. Brown’s endorsement lands alongside that commitment. even as the next question shifts from “can he” to “what comes next.” If Young is on the team for 2028 and beyond. the Panthers and Young will have to figure out a rate that works for both.
So for now. the argument is simple and sharp: Young’s recent results have changed how the story looks. even if some people still haven’t caught up. And for Carolina. the timing of his turnaround — after the benching. after the return with Dalton out. and now with a first postseason run since 2017 — gives Brown a reason to sound certain when he says the naysayers will have to come around.
Derrick Brown Bryce Young Carolina Panthers NFC South 2025 season Chris Long's Green Light NFL
People were doubting Bryce Young?? lol that seems wild.
I didn’t even know Panthers were back in the playoffs. If he’s doing numbers like that then yeah critics gotta shut up. But like, 8-9 for clinching the division is kinda crazy too.
Derrick Brown saying “he’s our guy” sounds like PR tbh. Also they say he was benched his second year but I thought that was like year 1? Either way, tiebreaker with an 8-9 record… makes it sound like the whole division was weak and they’re acting like it’s a masterpiece.
Bro everyone hates admitting they were wrong so I get the rant. But I’m stuck on the stat part—3,011 yards and 23 TD with 11 INT is not exactly “throwing it perfect,” it’s like kinda wild. Then again they made it to the postseason first time since 2017 so congrats I guess. Still, idk what happened with Dalton in the article cut off like that… feels like there’s more story.