“Someone’s kicking themselves in the A**” – Carolina Panthers ROASTED by fans for passing on C.J. Stroud and trading their house away in the process

The Panthers traded their 2024 first round pick and an elite receiver in D.J. Moore to be able to land Bryce Young.

“Someone’s kicking themselves in the A**” – Carolina Panthers ROASTED by fans for passing on C.J. Stroud and trading their house away in the process

The Panthers passed on C.J. Stroud to draft Bryce Young. (via Imago/AP)

O’ Sweet Carolina, Good times never seemed so good! After tonight’s performance by C.J. Stroud, fans in Houston cannot help but tweak the lyrics to Neil Diamond’s iconic song. Tonight, the Houston Texans annihilated the Cleveland Browns as rookie C.J. Stroud led the offense with 3 touchdowns and 274 yards. For the fans of the Carolina Panthers, this game was nothing short of a nightmare to watch because the very man their team passed on in the draft, is now heading to the Divisional Round.

It sucks to be a fan of the Panthers and tonight’s game just proved that David Tepper and the organization’s front office have been a big reason for the team’s struggles over recent years. In the 2023 draft, Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud were the hottest quarterbacks who were guaranteed to be the top two picks and the Panthers had the privilege to pick amongst the two.

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However, they blew it, the team was equally impressed with both QBs after watching them play but one of the major reasons they went with Young was because he scored better than Stroud on the S2 Cognitive test.

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Stroud scored a dismal 18 on the test while Young scored 98. On paper, this became the determining factor that left the Panthers drooling over Young. As Stroud said after the test results came out, 

I know I am one of the smartest quarterbacks in the NFL when I step in there...I'm not a test taker, I play football.

And that is exactly what he has done all season long.

C.J. Stroud became the youngest quarterback in NFL history to win a playoff game

The rookie quarterback has made David Tepper and the Panthers regret their choice game after game. He led his team to the playoffs in his first season.

(L) Bryce Young; (R) CJ Stroud (Via X/Texans Wire)

Stroud is on track to win the Offensive Rookie of The Year Award and was briefly in the race to win MVP as well. Stroud is an example of why teams should not base their decisions on pen-and-paper tests. Ultimately, football is played on the field and there is no pen or paper involved.

For fans of the Carolina Panthers, if there are any left, C.J. Stroud’s performance tonight was haunting, this could have been them. They could have been here, the franchise could have finally found a reliable quarterback since Cam Newton. But that did not happen. What ought to hurt worse is the fact that they traded up to get Bryce Young thereby foregoing their first pick this season.

The Panthers essentially traded away D.J. Moore, the first pick in the 2024 draft, and the chance to get Caleb Williams for Bryce Young. Young has not been the quarterback the Panthers had hoped he would be. By no means is this a condemnation of Young as a player, the Panthers are a mismanaged organization and with the pieces that he has to work with, his hands are tied so to speak. But could C.J. Stroud have led this team to a better record than 2-15? Absolutely.

Carolina traded their house away just to end up with the worst record in the NFL and they don’t even get to take advantage of that because they gave up their first-round pick. Clearly, someone has to go from the team’s front office. David Tepper has had his share of doubts about Bryce Young, he has made statements that indicate he is not happy with the team’s rookie QB.

Fans on X (formerly known as Twitter) took shots at the Panthers organization for having passed on C.J. Stroud, take a look:

This is not a shot at Bryce Young. He had a great collegiate career and was deserving of the first pick but at the same time, the Panthers did consider the test scores while drafting him over Stroud because ultimately, it was a very close decision between the two. It is safe to say that the future is bright in Houston because C.J. Stroud is just getting started.

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