Panthers playing Bryce Young in key preseason to overcome draft bust label, height concerns

Billy Heyen

Panthers playing Bryce Young in key preseason to overcome draft bust label, height concerns image

This is a massive preseason for Bryce Young.

A year after the Carolina Panthers and Dave Canales opted to sit guys before the regular season, they're taking a different approach.

Young and the starters are getting out there for the preseason opener against the Browns, and they have work to do.

"It’s predominantly a pretty young team, and I just can’t pass up on the opportunities,” Canales told reporters before the preseason opener.

The former No. 1 overall pick out of Alabama, Young is trying to shed his draft bust label. After being benched early last season, he returned to action late in the campaign and looked a heck of a lot better.

Now with a top-10 wideout pick in Tetairoa McMillan on board, too, this season is Young's chance to prove he's still a franchise QB.

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Bryce Young draft pick, class

Bryce Young was chosen No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.

He was taken directly before the Houston Texans took QB C.J. Stroud out of Ohio State.

Anthony Richardson, the next quarterback, went No. 4 to the Colts.

Will Levis went in the second round to the Titans, and Hendon Hooker in the third round to the Lions.

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How tall is Bryce Young?

Bryce Young is listed at 5-foot-10 and 204 pounds.

That's the same height Cardinals QB Kyler Murray is listed at.

There have not been many long-lasting NFL quarterbacks that are this short. Even Drew Brees was listed at 6-feet tall, and Russell Wilson at 5-foot-11.

Young is trying to buck the trends and make a lasting NFL career after his revival in late 2024.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle