Bryce Young Is Making His Doubters Look Silly & Even PFF Is Buying the Hype

It wasn't that long ago that it seemed like everybody had something to say about Bryce Young, and most of it wasn't good.

He was too small. He couldn't push the ball downfield. The Panthers made a mistake taking him No. 1 overall. We heard all of it, and to be fair, there were times during his first couple of seasons when it was hard to argue back.

Now here we are four games into the season, and things around Young feel a whole lot different. He's playing the best football of his career, Carolina's offense is putting up points, and even Pro Football Focus is starting to buy into what we're seeing.

In its latest NFL quarterback rankings, PFF has Young at No. 9 in the league.

PFF is buying into what Young is doing

Seeing Young inside the top 10 caught my attention, but his actual PFF grade might be even more impressive. Young has an 88.6 overall grade, which trails only Lamar Jackson among quarterbacks through the first five weeks.

And really, it's hard to argue with what we've watched so far.

According to the Panthers' official statistics, Young has completed 101 of 162 passes for 1,268 yards, nine touchdowns, and only two interceptions. He's averaging 317 yards per game and has a 100.0 passer rating.

PFF has also given him an 85.2 passing grade, which ranks fourth among qualified quarterbacks. He's been credited with eight big-time throws and only one turnover-worthy play through 176 dropbacks.

That last number might be the one that stands out the most to me. Young is making plays down the field without putting the football in danger very often, and that's something we haven't always been able to say about this offense.

What makes the PFF ranking even more interesting is where the conversation was before the season. Back in August, PFF's Panthers season preview called this a pivotal season for Young. There were still questions about just how good he could be and whether Carolina had seen enough to eventually make a long-term commitment to him.

Those were fair questions at the time, but four games into the season, Young is starting to answer some of them. He's not just showing flashes anymore. He's putting together good games week after week, and Carolina finally looks like it has an offense that can make teams pay through the air.

We've spent most of Young's career talking about what he couldn't do. So far this season, he's giving everybody a lot more to talk about when it comes to what he can do.

This isn't just one huge game boosting his numbers

That's probably the biggest thing I've noticed about Young so far. There hasn't been one ridiculous game carrying his numbers.

He threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns against Chicago, then followed that with 287 yards and three more touchdowns against Atlanta. Young threw for 291 yards against Cleveland before putting up another 329 yards and two touchdowns in Carolina's 32-26 win over Detroit.

His lowest passing total through four games is 287 yards, but the consistency is what stands out to me. We've seen Young have good stretches before. What we haven't seen enough of is him coming back the next week and doing it again.

It also doesn't hurt that Carolina finally has some weapons around him. Tetairoa McMillan already has 385 receiving yards, Jalen Coker has 222, and Darren Waller has given Young another option in the passing game.

That's a big difference from some of the offenses Young had around him earlier in his career. Defenses have more than one guy to worry about now, and Young is taking advantage of it.

Maybe it's time to believe what we're watching

I'll admit I've been pretty cautious with Young. Every time he had a big game, it was easy to say, "OK, let's see him do it again." Then he'd have another one, and we'd basically say the same thing the following week.

At some point, you have to give the guy his credit.

I'm not saying four games suddenly answer every question about Young. There's a lot of football left, and eventually he's going to have a bad game. Every quarterback does.

But I also don't think we can keep brushing this off as just a nice little stretch.

PFF has Young ranked ninth among NFL quarterbacks. His 88.6 overall grade trails only Lamar Jackson, and he's thrown nine touchdowns against two interceptions while averaging 317 yards per game.

That's not just hype anymore. Young is playing really good football, and through four games, he's given Panthers fans plenty of reasons to believe this might be more than just a hot start.

Now we get to see if he can keep it going.