Bryce Young already ranks among worst No. 1 picks ever, but has time to change his story

Bryce Young’s NFL story isn’t written yet.

It’s hard to keep that in perspective after Young was benched just two games into his second season. An awful Carolina Panthers team decided they’d rather try out 36-year-old Andy Dalton than see if Young could develop. But it could come around for Young, in Carolina or elsewhere. Baker Mayfield is a pretty good example of a former first overall pick who was given up on, seemed to be finished and ended up reviving his career all before the age of 30.

It just seems bleak now. Young has not played at a starting level for an NFL quarterback. This past offseason the Panthers spent a lot of money and resources to upgrade the offense around him and hired an offensive-minded head coach, yet Young’s play didn’t get any better. Suddenly the question has to be asked: At this point, is Young the worst first overall pick in NFL history?

Bryce Young could end up with JaMarcus Russell and Tim Couch among the worst first overall picks ever. (Gregory Hodge/Yahoo Sports)

For a fair comparison, let’s compare Young to the other No. 1 picks in the common draft era, which dates back to 1967. In 1959, the Green Bay Packers drafted Iowa quarterback Randy Duncan first overall, but Duncan’s father and Iowa coach Forest Evashevski didn’t want Duncan playing pro football, via Packers.com. He went to the Canadian Football League for more money, ended up in the NFL as a backup for two seasons later on and eventually went to law school. That seems like ancient history. We’re not comparing Young to some of those picks.

Here are the group of five first overall picks that can reasonably be argued as the worst top pick ever.

Injuries got Steve Emtman and Ki-Jana Carter

It seems unfair to have Emtman and Carter on a list like this, because they were great college players who were set way back in the NFL due to bad injury luck. Carter, a fantastic running back at Penn State, blew out his knee in the Cincinnati Bengals’ first preseason game after he was drafted…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-09-18 14:52:32

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