Will Anderson: Bryce Young is 'going to be just fine' after rough rookie season

It was a rough rookie season for Bryce Young with the Carolina Panthers. The former Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick struggled as the Panthers went just 2-15 and made a mid-season coaching change.

Former teammate and current Houston Texans star Will Anderson thinks Young will bounce back, though.

Young and Anderson played together at Alabama from 2020-22 and both became top-three picks. They faced each other in October for the first time – well, outside of the good-on-good practices in Tuscaloosa – and stayed in touch during the year. Even though it wasn’t the year he necessarily wanted, Anderson thinks Young is going to be “fine.”

“I’ve talked to Bryce a couple of times,” Anderson told 5GOATs via Zoom from the Panini America VIP event in Las Vegas. “That’s the world of sports. They’re gonna shoot you down when you’re doing bad, and they’re gonna gas you up when you’re doing good. And the one thing I can always say about Bryce, man, he keeps his poise about himself. He’s always calm.

“He’s going to be fine, bro. Like, he’s him. Bryce is going to be just fine.”

Will Anderson: Bryce Young is going to be ‘one of the names we’ll be talking about in this league for many years’

Young completed 59.8% of his passes for 2,877 yards and 11 touchdowns as a rookie out of Alabama. The Panthers gave up some key pieces to the Chicago Bears for the rights to select him at No. 1 overall, including a first-round pick this year – which became the No. 1 overall pick this year – as well as wide receiver D.J. Moore.

It was a much different season than Young had at the end of his Alabama career. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2022 as he threw for 4,872 yards and 47 touchdowns, and he followed that up with 3,328 yards and 32 touchdowns in 2023 as he dealt with a shoulder injury.

Anderson, the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, saw first-hand what type of player Young can be. He’ll also have a new coach, with Dave Canales calling the shots after leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If Carolina can continue building around Young, Anderson thinks his former teammate can bounce back in a big way.

“I’ve gotten a chance to watch Bryce operate from his freshman year to now, and it was kind of like that for his freshman year,” Young said. “And then what did he do after that? He took off, man. I know he’s going to do the same thing. He’s just got to get the right people around him, the right players around him.

“But it’s no doubt that Bryce is going to be a good NFL player. He’s going to be one of the names we’ll be talking about in this league for many years.”