Who Should I Start? Aaron Rodgers or Bryce Young

Friday, February 13, 11:19 AM

ESPN's Brooke Pryor reports that she gets the sense that Pittsburgh Steelers impending free-agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers is "more likely to come back than not" in 2026. The Steelers probably want an answer sooner rather than later from Rodgers, especially with the scouting combine coming up in a few weeks. The difference between this year and last year is that Pittsburgh has QB Will Howard on the roster after they drafted him in the sixth round in 2025. Mason Rudolph is also in the QB room, but new head coach Mike McCarthy is apparently a big fan of Howard and laid out plans to develop the young QB during his head-coaching interview. Rodgers led Pittsburgh to the playoffs and threw for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 16 regular-season games in his first year with the team, but he finished as the QB19 in fantasy in what was an underwhelming offense. If Rodgers returns to the Steel City for a 22nd NFL season, he'll be a low-end QB2 again with a limited ceiling for fantasy purposes.

Friday, February 13, 4:01 PM

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young may never fully live up to his prospect pedigree as the number one overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. However, the 24-year-old made definite strides in his third NFL season in 2025 and led Carolina to its first playoff berth since 2017. Across 16 games, Young completed 63.6% of his pass attempts for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while also adding 216 yards and two scores as a rusher. While Young averaged a middling 6.3 yards per pass attempt for the season as a whole, that number improved to a much more respectable 7.2 yards per attempt over his final seven games played of the regular season. While the Panthers are reportedly not expected to push to sign Young to an extension this offseason, the team is likely to pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract after his successful 2025 campaign. As such, Young should have a bit more runway in Carolina to continue to develop and establish himself as the organization's long-term answer under center. Young is far from a high-end fantasy quarterback, but his stock in dynasty formats is moderately improved following his 2025 output.