The Carolina Panthers are having a disastrous 2024 campaign. Carolina is 3-7 heading into their Week 11 bye and is firmly on the outside of the NFC playoff picture. The Panthers have seen some better play from Bryce Young recently, but one former NFL QB believes he still has a ton of room to improve.

Cam Newton dropped an honest take about Young on the latest episode of his 4th & 1 podcast. Newton believes Young won’t be able to take the next step as an NFL QB unless he can stay in the pocket and trust his offensive line.

“Gotta step up in the pocket, don’t be a bad habit, that’s a bad habit, slide in the pocket,” Newton said. “In his defense, coaching development saying what the standard is off your back foot move forward, it helps with accuracy; it helps with so much, but through Bryce’s mind, he doesn’t trust that pocket.

“He’s going to keep backing up, and he’s traumatic in there. So he’s not going to get in the position that it’s going to cave in because he hasn’t built that trust yet. When you see the trust, the Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, the Brady’s, oh man, I’m so comfortable in there.”

The producer asked Newton if that is a sign that Young is uncomfortable in the pocket.

“For sure, for sure. Can he play? Hell yeah, but this goes back to development,” Newton continued. “Is the development plan in place for him in Carolina? Has he been developed properly?”

Bryce seems to have earned his starting role back for the season in Carolina under new head coach Dave Canales. However, if he continues to bail out of clean pockets, it is only a matter of time before he is benched again.

Panthers RB Miles Sanders avoided serious injury after being carted off

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Carolina got some positive injury news on Wednesday related to RB Miles Sanders.

Sanders, the current backup to Chuba Hubbard, suffered an ankle/foot injury during the team's Week 10 game against the Giants in Germany. He was carted off the field, so many fans feared that he may have suffered a long-term injury.

Thankfully, NFL Network's Ian Rapaport confirmed on Wednesday that Sanders is day-to-day with the injury.

This is great news for a Carolina team that leans heavily on their running game. Rookie Jonathon Brooks has not played in a game so far this season, which puts more pressure on Sanders to take some carries off of Chuba Hubbard's plate.

Next up for the Panthers is a Week 12 matchup against the Chiefs.