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The lack of information on Bryce Young is beyond frustrating.
The Carolina Panthers are now 1-4, crashing back to earth after back-to-back losses proved the team’s problems were far deeper than average play at the quarterback position. It feels like an eon ago that Andy Dalton led to the Panthers to a huge Week 3 win over the Raiders, with his latest outing an abject disaster that saw the veteran quarterback finish 18-for-28 for 136 yards and an interception in a 36-10 blowout loss to the Bears.
Consistency has been a major problem for the Panthers this season, and that has been compounded by significant, season-defining injuries derailing what little hope Carolina had for 2024. Star defensive tackle Derrick Brown was lost in Week 1, starting receiver Adam Thielen is on injured reserve, safety Jordan Fuller, right tackle Taylor Moton, linebacker Shaq Thompson — all critical to the team, all out.
Through all this rookie head coach Dave Canales has preached patience. He wants a slow, methodical build that works from the ground up to mold this team the right way. While we don’t know whether this plan will work or not, one thing is clear: If Canales and the Panthrs are asking for trust from fans then they have to give more back when it comes to Bryce Young.
It’s now been three straight games since Young was benched, and while it’s certainly fair to acknowledge the offense has looked better with Dalton under center, it also seems antithetical to the Panthers’ motivations in 2024. If this team’s plan is to gather information, instruct, and teach, then surely it’s time to have Young take the field once more and see if this can work. Up to this point questions about Young have been met with vagueness from Canales, repeating phrases about the need to “teach the fundamentals” and “start from the bottom.”
The problem is that there’s been no explanation of what this means. What exactly is Canales looking for out of Young that he didn’t show at Alabama, or last year? Furthermore, there’s been no explanation of why Young regressed in 2024 after the new coaching staff took over, when a primary selling point for Canales and his staff was their ability to build quarterbacks.
The decision to stick with Dalton is even more puzzling in light of Young’s late-game play against the Bears, when he was subbed in to get reps and close out the game, all the while moving the ball far more effectively than Dalton did.
It’s always dangerous to glean too much from garbage time reps, but it’s impossible to ignore that Young returned to the field in Chicago looking more confident, making better decisions in the pocket, and made some impressive plays by finishing 4-for-7 for 58 yards, with another 8 yards rushing.
There doesn’t need to be a deep conspiracy here. Perhaps this is simply a promising step in re-building Young, and his reps in Chicago are indicative of the work that’s happening in practice. However, fans deserve to know precisely what the plan is. Canales strongly asserted that Dalton is the starting quarterback in Carolina moving forward, but offered nothing in terms of how long that would last, whether he plans to start Young at all this season, or whether he feels Young can still be the franchise quarterback of the Panthers.
One thing is certain, however: People are starting to take notice of the fact Young is still profoundly talented, but locked in a bad situation.
Someone get Bryce Young away from Carolina.
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) October 7, 2024
A lot is being made about Canales’ ham fisted answer about why Young was played on Sunday, when he said he wanted to get Dalton out of the game with a beat-up offensive line. This was taken to mean that Young was a sacrificial lamb, sent out to the slaughter to protect Dalton. It seemed to indicate that Young was expendable, and that the team was fine to see Young get ground into a paste — so long as it kept the veteran upright. While I don’t think that was Canales’ intention or reason for playing Young, he has created an environment with his vagueness that allows speculation like this to fester.
At this point there need to be very clear, very transparent messaging on Bryce Young that requires the team to be proactive:
Canales should offer updates on Young’s progression weekly without being prompted with a question first
There needs to be a clear timeline on when the Panthers plan to start Young again, or at least a ballpark on when another switch at quarterback is made
It would be nice to know precisely what coaches are working on with Young week-to-week to garner a better understanding of their vision on processes
This might seem excessive, but this was a No. 1 pick quarterback who the team mortgaged a lot of their future to move up and get. The biggest issue for Panthers fans right now is having now trust in their own team, and the lack of information coming from Canales and co. is feeding those feelings.
It’s all well and good for the Panthers to want to build their teams from the ground up again, but they also need to build their relationship with fans from scratch. Offering more information about Young and their future would go a long way to achieve this.
