Around this time last year, Carolina Panthers great Steve Smith Sr. hitched his wagon to Bryce Young. But after a rough rookie season for the 2023 No. 1 overall pick, is the wagon still attached?
Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III asked him that on Thursday’s episode of RG3 and The Ones. And while he didn’t give a definitive answer, Smitty offered some interesting insight.
“Well, I liked Bryce Young initially,” he replied. “Right? We have to pick a guy. That’s our job. We have to pick a guy. Because I picked Bryce and said we should go with Bryce, that doesn’t mean that I think C.J. [Stroud] can’t play. I said, just like other people reported, Bryce’s processing was faster than C.J.’s.
“But at the end of the day, a smart kid can look dumb if he’s around a lot of dumb people. And a dumb kid, or a smart kid, can be really smart if he’s around a lot of smart people. And what I’m sayin’ is — you’re only as good as your company, and your company can only heighten and elevate you.”
Unfortunately, that company didn’t do much to heighten the 5-foot-10 quarterback. Between his wide receivers struggling to separate and his offensive line allowing the second-most sacks in the NFL, Young turned in a sour first season.
Young, who also lost his head coach after 12 weeks and experienced multiple changes at the offensive coordinator position, threw for just 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions while averaging 179.8 passing yards per game. The other quarterback Smith mentioned, by the way, averaged a league-high 273.9 passing yards a contest, made the Pro Bowl and captured Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.
But hopefully for Young, he’ll be hanging around some more smart people in 2024.
