Bryce Young benched: Other notable No. 1 overall QBs who were benched by their teams

The Bryce Young era in Carolina has hit a dramatic speed bump. Whether it results in his time with the Panthers coming to a close is a conversation for later on, but the former No. 1 overall pick has been benched. This comes after the team’s 0-2 start to the 2024 season, capped off recently by their Week 2 loss at home to the Los Angeles Chargers that featured another lifeless showing by the offense under Young. 

After being the top overall pick of the Panthers in 2023, it’s essentially been downhill for Young. The Alabama product is 2-16 as a starter, which is the third-worst win percentage by a quarterback since 1950 (min. of 15 starts). In the loss on Sunday, Young threw for just 84 yards on 26 attempts with an interception.

While his standing within the organization has hit an all-time low, he isn’t the first signal caller taken with the first overall pick to be benched by his team. Below, we’ll highlight the other quarterbacks that have met the same fate with their teams dating back to 2000. 

Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

The Panthers announced Young’s benching after Week 2 of the 2023 season. That resulted in the quarterback logging just 18 starts in his career before the team decided to put him on the shelf. 

Winston, the No. 1 overall pick in 2015, went through a topsy-turvy season with the Buccaneers in 2018. The Florida State product was suspended for the first three games of that season. When he was eligible to return to the field, he didn’t immediately earn the starting job back in Week 4. That went to veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. However, he did start the following week and the two games after that. 

Winston was officially benched during Tampa Bay’s Week 8 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, where he threw four interceptions. That led to the quarterback being sidelined for the following two weeks in place of Fitzpatrick. The Florida State product had 48 regular season starts under his belt before this official benching after Week 8. 

JaMarcus Russell, Oakland Raiders

JaMarcus Russell’s tenure with the then-Oakland Raiders left little to be desired, and is considered to be among the biggest draft busts of all-time. After being the No. 1 overall pick in 2007 out of LSU, Russell sat for most of his rookie season, notching his first start in Week 17 of that year. Russell was then named the starter to begin the 2008 season and played throughout that season. 

In 2009, however, Russell was benched indefinitely by head coach Tom Cable. That came after a loss to Kansas City in Week 10, where Russell completed just 34.7% of his throws for 64 yards. That benching came 25 starts into Russell’s career and would not earn another as he was out of the league following that season. 

Smith’s tenure with the Niners was turbulent at times. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft was jockeyed in and out of the lineup as a rookie and then missed time at various points due to injury. However, his first true benching seemed to come during the 2010 campaign. While sidelined with injury that season, quarterback Troy Smith won back-to-back games in his absence. That led to Smith holding onto the job when Smith was ready to return. However, Smith did regain his starting position three weeks later, but a 34-7 loss to the Chargers in Week 15 contributed to him losing his job to Troy Smith yet again. Troy Smith struggled in that Week 16 game, head coach Mike Singletary was fired, and Alex Smith started the season finale. 

Smith’s standing with the organization would stabilize for the next couple of seasons before he was benched again, this time coming in the middle of the 2012 season for Colin Kaepernick.

Manning was the No. 1 overall pick in 2004 with the New York Giants, famously trading for his rights after the quarterback did not want to play for the San Diego Chargers. That decision proved to be a resounding success as Manning led the franchise to two Super Bowl titles. However, he was benched by the franchise in his final season in the league in 2019. Manning began the year as New York’s starter but was benched in Week 3 in place of Daniel Jones, who the organization took with the No. 6 overall pick that offseason. Manning started 232 games before that benching.