Here's Why Derrick Brown Would Vote Bryce Young for MVP

Through six weeks, Bryce Young has firmly inserted himself into the MVP conversation. If the season were to end today, the Carolina Panthers QB would not win the award, but he'd get some down-ballot support from voters.

He leads the NFL in passing yards per game and has 12 touchdowns to two turnovers. He's doing that while facing the most pressure in the NFL. The Panthers are 3-2 largely because of his MVP-level performance.

While Josh Allen, Kenneth Walker, and Brock Purdy exist, if you ask Panthers star Derrick Brown, Young is the MVP right now.

Derrick Brown casts his MVP vote for Bryce Young

Derrick Brown can't vote for MVP, but if he could, he told Ratings' DJ Siddiqi that he would vote for Bryce Young. He has been that impressed by his quarterback's play through six weeks of the NFL season.

Brown said, "He’s just continuing to be himself. He never, ever let anybody else dictate what he had going on. This guy — he shows up every single day, works his a** off, and he continues to just prove all those people wrong that doubted him. I’m smiling ear to ear watching him do it."

Young has certainly made Brown's life easier. The defense doesn't have as much pressure on them because the offense is scoring a lot of points. When there is less pressure to get do-or-die stops, a defense can play a lot more freely.

What has helped set Young apart, Brown said, is "just being a person that can find the good out of anything." Whatever it is, Young can find the path forward and motivate his teammates on both sides of the ball.

What Young is doing is practically unprecedented. No one in the last decade has improved their yards per game numbers like Young from 2025-2026. He's added over 100 yards a game, an unfathomable number.

It is incredibly rare for a player to make a leap so late. By year four, players, especially quarterbacks, usually are who they are. Who Young was was a solid but inconsistent quarterback. Now, he's one of the league's best.

And while Brown is definitely biased towards his quarterback, the improving MVP odds aren't. They suggest that Young's place in the MVP race can't really be challenged. They keep going up.

NFL analyst Kevin Patra even said Young has arrived as a top-five MVP candidate this year. It's not just Brown and other players on the team. Everyone's taking notice of the immense leap Young has made, and MVP isn't so far-fetched anymore.