The Carolina Panthers narrowed their options for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to quarterbacks C.J. Stroud of Ohio State and Bryce Young of Alabama.
The Panthers picked Young. Stroud went to the Houston Texans at No. 2.
What if Carolina had chosen Stroud and Young gone to the Texans? Would their careers have changed with their uniforms? Would Young have enjoyed Stroud’s success and Stroud shouldered Young’s struggles?
“I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” Young said when asked that what-if question on Thursday. “I’m sure C.J.’ll say the same thing. God doesn’t make mistakes. Everything happens for a reason, so I’m super grateful to be a Panther.
“Again for me, from my standpoint, always just trying to improve as a team, as a unit, as a group. We’re trying to keep going, trying to keep getting better. Coach just talks about winning the day, taking it one day at a time. He always says it’s the best day we got because it’s all we got. And that’s the mindset today. It’ll be the mindset tomorrow. So again, for me, I’m grateful where I’m at, grateful to be where my feet are and continue to build with this group that I love.”
Each quarterback joined his NFL team after a coaching change. Available after compiling a 41-35-1 record in five seasons as the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach, former NFL quarterback and offensive coordinator Frank Reich took charge of Young. Former Alabama All-American DeMeco Ryans went from the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator to the Houston head coach in 2023, his first year at the helm of a team.
Young started 16 games as a rookie. The Panthers won two of them as the No. 1 pick threw for 2,877 yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
In 2024, Young got benched after two games. After five games as a backup, Young returned to the starting lineup. His improved play and four wins by Carolina in its final nine games under new coach Dave Canales have allowed the Panthers to look toward 2025 with optimism.
After winning 11 games across the 2020 through 2022 seasons, Houston posted 10 victories plus a playoff win in each of the past two seasons. Stroud threw for 4,108 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions as a Pro Bowl rookie and 3,727 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his second season.
“I would say just proud of, like, just being the one God has called to these moments because he could have picked anybody,” Stroud said about his NFL career on Thursday. “Even though, like for me, I feel like I’m unqualified, but God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the unqualified to give testimonies and to bring people to him, so I think me and Bryce are like perfect to that.
“Like, him being a small-stature guy who guys didn’t like because he was small. Me, you know, dealing with my childhood and some things that I had to go through. And we’re not perfect people. We serve a perfect God. But the ups and downs, I don’t think our faith has wavered, and I think it’s made our faith stronger, and I think that’s most important. So I would say that’s probably the most proud thing that I can say about me and him is like our faith has become stronger through this sport, through this game, even though it doesn’t mean everything. It means something to a lot of people, and it means something to us, too, but it’s a vessel now that we’re using to glorify God, hopefully, and that’s most important.”
The comparison questions regarding Young and Stroud returned this week because the Panthers and Texans held a joint practice on Thursday in advance of their preseason meeting on Saturday.
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But Young and Stroud have been friends since they were youngsters.
“I see him all the time,” Stroud said of Young during his Thursday press conference. “That’s my brother. Like I don’t really make it a big deal. I think it is for y’all, but for us, it’s just seeing a friend, seeing a brother, hoping they do well. I know he hopes I do well. I know I hope he does well.”
Stroud said he expects Young to build on his performance late in the 2024 season. In the final three games last season, Young threw for 612 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns. His passing-efficiency rating was 111.6. Before those games, Young’s career passing-efficiency rating was 73.6.
“I think I’ve seen a dog come out of him that he has that a lot of people haven’t seen,” Stroud said. “I know he dealt with some frustrations. And I think, the God we serve, you know, I think it’s good that we go through these ups and downs to, like, refocus you back on what’s important. I think he had that, and I had it last year as well. And I think he bounced back like he should and we all know he can.
“He’s a heck of a player. One of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever seen in my life. And I just think he needs some help around him, too. But I’m just really proud of that guy.”
Young said he admires Stroud’s ability to take the good and bad in stride.
“I think one of the biggest things that I respect about him is just his consistency as a person,” Young said. “He’s someone that I’ve seen, you know, I’ve been around him in a lot of different outside perspectives. I’ve seen him as a overlooked middle-schooler, high-schooler that I’ve been around that was just as good but didn’t get the following, didn’t have the offers, didn’t have the hype. I’ve seen him at Ohio State play and after one game have people acting like he’s not good and people saying he’s this and that, to go on and have the career he’s had and be the man at Ohio State. I’ve seen him have ups and downs. I’ve seen him have so much success at this level.
“Throughout all that, he’s been the exact same person. He’s been family-oriented, great person on and off the field. I know a lot of people on this team, and everyone tells me how great of a leader he is, how much he means for this team. So I think just his ability to be that same person regardless of what his circumstances are is one of the things that I admire the most.”
The Panthers and Texans will square off in Week 2 of the NFL’s preseason at noon CDT Saturday at NRG Stadium in Houston.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.
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