Bryce Young named to prestigious NFL list. Will other Carolina Panthers join him?
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The NFL has begun rolling out its Top 100 Players of 2026, and one quarterback in particular has made his debut.
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Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was named No. 98 on the list, NFL.com announced Tuesday. The NFL Top 100 is voted on by the players themselves.
As of Tuesday morning, the league has only revealed Nos. 100 through 97. The rest of the reveal will continue throughout the summer leading up to the start of the 2026 season.
The selection of Young speaks to the respect he has of his peers — not only his teammates but the rest of the league as well. He sits ahead of eight-time Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Jordan of the New Orleans Saints, as well as eight-time Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson of the Indianapolis Colts. He is right behind No. 97 Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones.
Young might not have the career accolades just yet, but his 2025 season — his third in the league — seems to have powered his debut on the list. His second year under head coach Dave Canales, after all, paid dividends. Young saw career bests in regular-season passing yards (3,011), touchdowns (23), completion percentage (63.6) and passer rating (87.8). He also led the Panthers to the playoffs for the first time since being picked No. 1 overall by the squad in 2023 — and the first time for the franchise as a whole since 2017.
The best thing about Young, perhaps, is his potential. Particularly in parts of his game that have yet to be tapped: the deep-pass game specifically. Young ranked 30th among all quarterbacks in the 2025 regular season in average depth of target — 6.4 yards in intended air yards, according to Pro Football Reference. And he only threw passes that traveled in the air for over 20 yards … 41 times. That’s not a lot.
But in those 41 attempts, he completed 20 of those passes for 587 yards and eight touchdowns and only two interceptions. Thus his “deep passing grade,” according to Pro Football Focus, was 99.2, second among all regular starting quarterbacks in the NFL last year, only behind NFL MVP Matthew Stafford.
Young probably isn’t the only Panthers player on this year’s Top 100 list. Here are seven others who ought to earn such consideration. (If any of these players make the list, it would be quite an improvement from the last two offseasons — in which no Panthers players made the list.)
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Horn is a two-time Pro Bowl corner with the all-important interception stats — a league-second-best five INTs in 2025 — to validate his place on the Top 100 list. This one feels like a no-brainer; then again, Horn was a Pro Bowler in 2024 and didn’t earn Top 100 status the ensuing offseason. Only 10 corners made the Top 100 list last year.
McMillan might already be in the conversation for Top 15 wide receiver in the league, just based on the wideout’s numbers from 2025. He was one of merely 19 players to crest 1,000 receiving yards in last year’s regular season, and he did so as the unquestioned No. 1 option in his offensive rookie of the year campaign.
Brown, the Panthers’ record-breaking defensive lineman, is no stranger to being snubbed from such league-wide lists. Such omissions, he’s said, are used as fuel. He finished last season playing every game (including the playoffs), notching five sacks, seven pass deflections and 78 tackles.
Jackson still has the distinction as the team’s No. 2 cornerback, behind Horn, so it might be an uphill climb to make the list. But he still had some pretty remarkable stats in 2025 that should earn the respect of his peers. His regular-season stats: 68 tackles, four interceptions, one forced fumble and a league-leading 19 passes defended.
This one’s an uber longshot. Offensive linemen, particularly guards, don’t get the same notoriety as other positions. But take a look at Lewis’ availability and advanced metrics over the past two seasons in Carolina — he allowed just one sack and three QB hits in nearly 1,000 snaps — and it’s clear the value he brings to the locker room. It’s only a matter of time for the rest of the league to take notice, too.
The highest-profile free-agent linebacker this offseason landed in Carolina. And after the season Lloyd had in 2025 — five interceptions, 87 tackles and 10 QB hits — he ought to be considered as one of the 10-15 linebacker candidates for the list.
Phillips played all 17 games in 2025. The outside linebacker might have only notched five sacks, sure, but he was a game-wrecker as a pass rusher and a weapon as a run-stopper, and that yielded a massive payday in free agency this year. He might need another year of production to prove himself to his peers that he’s a Top 100 player, but the talent is there.
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This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 11:35 AM.
