CBS

It was not too long ago that I was mocking a quarterback to the Panthers seemingly every week. Bryce Young was on the bench, and his play in the NFL to that point didn't garner much excitement for his future as an NFL starter. Since his return to the field in Week 8, Young has been as close to completely transformed as I've seen at the quarterback position within one season. Before his benching, Young hadn't thrown a touchdown pass and had tossed three interceptions. His yards-per-attempt average was an almost unfathomable 4.6. It feels like we've been watching a stunt double after his return to the starting lineup in Carolina. He has seven touchdown to four picks and his yards-per-attempt average is 6.2. The Panthers have scored 20 or more points in four of the six games. Young isn't suddenly an elite-level quarterback, but there are signs of life every single week. He came within a few plays of beating the Chiefs, and made a gorgeous throw to Xavier Legette that should've given the Panthers a last-minute lead over the Eagles in Philadelphia in Week 13. Therefore, the mocks from me with the Panthers going quarterback are officially a thing of the past.