Bryce Young will open his NFL career on Saturday afternoon when the Carolina Panthers host the New York Jets for a preseason matchup at Bank of America Stadium.
The Jets have already opened their preseason schedule, losing 21-16 to the Cleveland Browns at the Hall of Fame Game last week. Carolina will be making their debut in Saturday’s exhibition after going 7-10 last season.
Young will be the main attraction for this game, especially since Aaron Rodgers won’t be making an appearance on the field for New York. We’ll break down the matchup in our free NFL preseason picks and predictions for Jets vs. Panthers on August 12.
Jets vs Panthers odds
Jets vs Panthers predictions
The Carolina Panthers made a huge splash in the 2023 NFL Draft, taking quarterback Bryce Young with the first overall pick. Young excelled at Alabama, winning a national championship in 2020 and the Heisman Trophy in 2021. While he wasn’t in the mix for those same honors in his junior year, he still put up 32 touchdowns with just five interceptions in his final season with the Crimson Tide.
Nobody expects Young to come in and put up the same kind of dominant numbers in the NFL — least of all in his rookie campaign. In joint practices against the New York Jets, Young struggled a bit when facing Gang Green’s first unit. Even against the backups, reserve cornerback Brandin Echols was among the Jets defenders who had a good time against Young in practice.
see you at the house @matayo_echols pic.twitter.com/aHrGpFbVTj
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 9, 2023
By the time Young finds his footing on Saturday, he may already be back on clipboard duty. While the Panthers aren’t going to risk getting veteran Andy Dalton hurt during a preseason scrimmage, third-string QB Matt Corral figures to get plenty of playing time on Saturday. Corral is in his second year out of Mississippi, and while the former Rebel isn’t going to challenge Young or Dalton for playing time to start the year, the Panthers will want to know what they have in their former third-round pick.
The Jets aren’t exactly rolling out their A-team either. We know that Aaron Rodgers isn’t going to waste time taking preseason snaps on Saturday, meaning the bulk of the work will be left to Zach Wilson. While Wilson has never given New York what they expected in the regular season, they do want him prepared to be Rodgers’ backup this year.
I’m not about to pretend Wilson is a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL, but he does carry over 22 games of starting experience in the league and saw reps in last week’s Hall of Fame game. Ultimately, Wilson should have an easier time moving the ball than the likes of Young or Corral.
Carolina is also without Miles Sanders for the game, meaning they’ll be relying on depth running backs. With that in mind, I’m taking the Jets on the spread as we can get more than a field goal in a game that New York could easily win outright.
My best bet: Jets +3.5 (-109 at Unibet)
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