Adam Thielen believes the Carolina Panthers got the best kind of leader in former No. 1 overall 2023 NFL draft pick Bryce Young.
Thielen, who came to Charlotte at the same time as Young, has seen him leave his comfort zone as the Panthers’ QB1.
Young being himself isn’t that important, according to the 34-year-old receiver.
“I think some people will say, ‘Oh, he’s really coming into his own.’ But for me, especially just being around him and understanding him and his philosophy and his mindset, I think he’s found what it takes to be at his best. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s got to be himself. It means he’s really found a way to be at his best and help the team be at its best,” Thielen told me last week.
“And I truly believed. At first, I kind of thought, ‘Oh, it’s because he’s becoming himself. He’s comfortable in his own skin. But I think he’s really had to just maybe be out of his comfort zone a little bit and kind of do some things that aren’t necessarily his go-to. So it’s been really cool to see his maturity and being like, Alright, this is going to help the team. So I’m going to go all into this and I’m going to it’s really helping me as an individual be at my best, too.’”
Thielen later explained how Young weathered the storm of being benched for Andy Dalton and showed strong improvement toward the end of the 2024 season.
“Yeah, I think when guys kind of saw how he responded to the adversity, how when he did come back in a unique situation, how he responded to that, I think it really just helped guys to trust him. Not that guys didn’t already trust him. Bryce is a great leader. He’s a guy that guys want to be around. He can relate to everyone. And so I think that’s a really unique thing,” Thielen said.
“When someone handles adversity the way that he did and they come back and they change some things to benefit themselves and the team, you could feel the buy-in from guys. And just the trust that guys earned or that he earned from guys was really cool. So, guys are all in on Bryce, and they really trust him to just be that leader and the guy that’s going to be kind of the face of our franchise for a long time.”
Thielen believes Young’s time under Nick Saban, Steve Sarkisian, and Bill O’Brien almost spoiled the quarterback before he had to adjust to the NFL.
Thielen admitted Carolina wasn’t the best situation for Young from the jump, though it has steadily improved.
“I would say it was the best thing that ever happened to him. It was tough adversity. It was not easy. It was a horrible situation, different offense coordinators, different head coaches. There’s a lot going on in your first few years in the league compared to, like you said, being at Alabama and having a lot of stability and having great players around you. I think it was just an eye-opening experience for him to say, ‘OK, this is the NFL. It’s a little bit different,’” Thielen said.
“Even if you have a great team, it’s still different. The, time that you have in the pocket in the NFL, even if you have the best offensive line in the NFL, is totally different than when you’re in college and you’re at Alabama. I think there was just a learning curve and it goes back to, just his ability to come back from it and learn from it and truly apply it. It’s only made him a better player, and I think it’s given him a lot of confidence to say, ‘All right, I have a good feeling for what it takes to be successful in the NFL.’”
Adam Thielen has high hopes for J.J. McCarthy leading his former team, the Vikings
I asked Thielen about his former team, the hometown Minnesota Vikings, and specifically, 2024 NFL draft pick J.J. McCarthy.
The former national champion QB at Michigan has Thielen convinced the future will be bright in the Twin Cities.
“I have high expectations for. I’ve been able to be around a little bit through some of the time last summer… back in Minnesota and I think he has the ability to be one of the great quarterbacks this weekend and the face of this league at some point. You know, I think he’s got every tool and intangible that you can have,” Thielen said.
“Obviously, it’s a difficult league and it’s not gonna just be easy, but I think he has the ability to handle adversity to be able to be big and big moments as you saw when he was in college and I think he’s got a great support staff around him, whether it be the coaches or the trainers.”
Thielen provided media availability in advance of the 2025 American Century Championship at the Edgewood Tahoe Resort from July 9-13. Thielen will be one of the 91 competitors in Stateline, Nevada, for the annual celebrity golf tournament, which will be broadcast on NBC, Peacock, and the GOLF Channel.
