Bryce Young’s Schedule Just Turned on Him

Through Week 6, no quarterback faced softer pass defenses than Bryce Young. From here on, no quarterback faces tougher ones.

Built on a soft schedule

Through Week 6, Bryce Young’s opponents gave up 20.3 fantasy points a game to quarterbacks. The league average was 17.5. No quarterback in the NFL had it easier.

He cashed in. Young averaged 22.5 points a game, fourth among quarterbacks with at least four starts, and threw 11 touchdown passes in five games.

Sunday was a preview

Then came Tampa Bay. The Bucs won 43–13, and Carolina’s offense fell apart in about 20 minutes.

Early in the second quarter, Young was strip-sacked, and Tampa returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. Carolina answered with a 50-yard score to Darren Waller, but Tampa blocked the extra point and ran it back for two. Soon after, Young threw an interception that set up one more touchdown before the half. By halftime, it was 33–6.

The second half was worse. On the first drive, Young was sacked, and right tackle Taylor Moton suffered a fractured fibula and an ankle injury. Young was sacked again on the very next play. On Carolina’s following drive, he took a third sack and threw his second interception. Kenny Pickett took over in the fourth quarter, down 43–6.

Here’s the scary part. Tampa allows 15.3 points a game to quarterbacks, below the league average. Four of Carolina’s 11 remaining opponents allow even less.

And the Moton injury makes it worse. Young had already been sacked 12 times in five games. A volume passer needs time to throw, and Carolina just lost its starting right tackle heading into the hardest stretch of its schedule.

The hardest road in football

Now the schedule flips. Carolina’s remaining opponents allow 15.3 points a game to quarterbacks. That’s the hardest remaining schedule in the NFL, 32nd of 32.

Eight of the 11 allow fewer points than the league average. Minnesota allows 9.6, the fewest in football. Only three games come against defenses that are worse than average.

A brutal playoff run

It gets worse when it matters most. In Weeks 15 through 17, the most common fantasy playoff weeks, Carolina plays the Bengals, then the Steelers on the road, then the Seahawks.

That’s one neutral matchup and two of the toughest in the league. No team has a harder playoff schedule for quarterbacks, and Seattle lands in championship week.

No rushing floor. No starting right tackle. No soft matchups. That’s not a quarterback you want starting with a title on the line.

Sell now

In one-quarterback redraft leagues, the window is this week. Young is still rostered in 86% of ESPN leagues and started in about half. His name still carries his early-season numbers. Use that.

Trade him if anyone’s buying. If no one bites, cut him. A replacement-level quarterback with a soft matchup gives you the same floor, and Young won’t see many soft matchups again.

Sources: weekly player stats from the Sleeper API, 2026 season. Player stats run through Week 7; defensive numbers use Weeks 1–6, and fantasy points use Sleeper’s default scoring (4-point passing touchdowns). Schedules, box score and play-by-play: ESPN. Injury reporting: ESPN. Roster and start rates: ESPN Fantasy.