What does the old Nationwide Insurance commercial say? “Life goes by so quickly.”
That’s certainly true.
Just ask Bryce Young, the quarterback once hailed as the savior of the Carolina Panthers. On Sunday afternoon, Panthers coach Dave Canales pledged his loyalty to Young despite another poor performance from the 2023 No. 1 draft pick. Less than 24 hours later, Canales announced he was benching Young in favor of 14-year NFL veteran Andy Dalton.
With the Panthers now 0-2 after losing their first two games of the season by 73-13, Coach Canales was desperately trying to stop the bleeding, and “Bryce is our quarterback” quickly turned to “Andy gives us the best chance to win.”
Young endured a tumultuous rookie season and is already playing for his third head coach in 17 months, and his poor rookie performance has carried over into Year 2, as the 2024 starter completed just 55.4% of his passes for 245 yards, no touchdowns and just three interceptions.
Young’s benching just two games into the Panthers’ rebuilding season raises many questions about the wisdom and foresight of Carolina’s brass, and Young’s rapid fall from grace is another example of the temper and impulsivity that dictates (and confounds) quarterback decisions across the NFL.
Another once-promising player is on the brink of ruin. Another franchise remains in abyss. As familiar storylines play out and other young quarterbacks stumble to starts this season, the NFL appears to be facing a quarterback development crisis.
Going deeper
Will Bryce Young’s benching mark the beginning of the end for last year’s No. 1 draft pick?
A national champion and Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Alabama, Young seemed destined for NFL stardom. His small size (5-foot-10, 204 pounds) gave some talent evaluators pause, but many believed the accuracy, poise, athleticism, relentless work ethic, exceptional football IQ, sharp instincts and competitive spirit he displayed in college would more than make up for his small size.
On the contrary, Young doesn’t even have a sniff of proficiency.
Should he be blamed for some of the shortcomings? Sure. But with a team and coaching staff plagued by dysfunction, Young was doomed to fail in his rookie season. He ended up going 2-14 with 11 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. CJ Stroud, selected one pick after Young by the Texans, won Offensive Rookie of the Year.
But it’s hard to imagine Stroud having the same kind of success in Carolina that he did with Houston, who went 10-7 under new coach DeMeco Ryans and reached the divisional round of the playoffs.
1. There are too many cooks in the kitchen, including hands-on owner David Tepper, coach Frank Reich (who lasted just 11 games), offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, senior offensive assistant Jim Caldwell, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and assistant head coach Duce Staley.
2. There are too many holes on the roster. Few (if any) quarterbacks can succeed with such a shaky supporting cast.
Canales was supposed to help Young rebuild in the same way he helped Seattle’s Geno Smith and Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield resurrect their careers as an assistant, but he already made the confusing decision to hold Young back from the first two preseason games rather than play him to help his development.
Panthers coach Dave Canales plans to start Andy Dalton (right) against the Raiders on Sunday. (Steven Liu / Imag Images)
Will time as an observer help Young better understand NFL quarterbacks? Only time will tell.
We know that benching Young, who has been sacked 68 times in 18 games, won’t fix the deficiencies in the rest of the Panthers’ offensive line’s talent — and certainly some of the quarterbacks who get sacked more often should be blamed for holding onto the ball too long — but Carolina’s offensive line just isn’t very good.
The switch from Young to Dalton won’t suddenly help improve the tackling of a defense that is allowing the league’s best 36.5 points per game, but the Panthers, like so many teams before them, seem to believe that a good quarterback can make up for a lot of their shortcomings. Sure, a good quarterback can elevate a team, but even Patrick Mahomes can’t fix all of Carolina’s weaknesses.
It remains to be seen how Young’s story will play out, but judging by how he handled himself last season and Monday’s surprising decision, the Panthers are guilty of quarterback misconduct.
And they’re not alone. Just look at the 2021 NFL Draft roster. No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence remains with the Jaguars, but fellow first-round quarterbacks Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Mac Jones have all moved on from the teams that drafted them.
Developmentally, Young didn’t look ready last season and he’s not looking ready this year. Carolina made the all-too-common transgression of drafting a prized quarterback in 2023 and throwing him to the wolves before he was ready to perform at a high level and the roster around him was strong enough to make up for his shortcomings. The Panthers’ roster this season remains riddled with holes. Young’s struggles, combined with Canales’ decision to bench him so quickly, suggest the youngster should not have been a starter to open the season.
Many teams feel pressured to have a star quarterback who can be a star player from day one, but these prospects are still inexperienced and the foundation of the new team is shaky. This defies logic. No one would hand a teenager who just got his driver’s license the keys to a beat-up car and expect him to safely drive it down the interstate. So why expect miracles from a first-year pro quarterback?
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Sure, there are cases where a rookie quarterback doesn’t reach his potential. Maybe he didn’t study as hard as he should. Maybe he made the same mistakes over and over again. When a quarterback experiment fails, whispers often cite a lack of work ethic and discipline. But if a young quarterback isn’t conducting himself like a professional and showing the maturity, discipline and dedication necessary to hold down a starting spot, don’t put him there in the first place. Let him earn it.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with telling a quarterback he’s not ready yet, but that should be done from the start and not justify the decision to ignore all the red flags and start him because of the premium pick that was used to acquire him.
Indecision and hastiness aren’t good for anyone, and teams with young quarterbacks have two options.
• Commit yourself to developing him on the spot and accept the fact that things will get uglier before they get better. Remember: The great Peyton Manning led the NFL in interceptions (28) but only won three games as a rookie. Troy Aikman was 0-11 as a rookie but went on to win three Super Bowls.
• Or play the long game, redshirting and developing a quarterback while shoring up the roster he will eventually inherit, then making him the starter once his development becomes evident.
Too many NFL coaches struggle with adopting a conservative approach with young quarterbacks.
It’s well-known that a young passer’s best ally is a strong rushing game and a play-action passing attack that is a by-product of the run. But instead of taking the strain with a run-first mentality and forcing the defense to back off and buy the quarterback time, play-callers push young, underdeveloped quarterbacks back 30 to 40 times a game. That’s when the fatal mistakes happen.
Passes on early downs (and subsequent incomplete passes) lead to third-down-and-long situations, forcing the quarterback to hold onto the ball for longer while the play unfolds, which puts even more pressure on the offensive line (whether they’re very good or not) and makes the quarterback an easy target for a sack.
Many young quarterbacks also lack the basic understanding of defense needed to be successful. On many of Young’s interceptions, it’s clear the defender either doesn’t see or doesn’t realize he’s in hidden coverage. He throws these interceptions with conviction. He throws the ball deep down the field without hesitation, only for a defensive back to dive in and intercept the ball in mid-air.
In the end, young, error-prone quarterbacks are berated and replaced for making poor decisions when, in reality, they should never have been in those situations in the first place.
Broncos coach Sean Payton has pushed rookie Bo Nix back 77 times, third-most in the league. That has led to Nix making some baffling decisions en route to a league-high four interceptions (tied with the Colts’ Anthony Richardson) and a terrible 51.0 passer rating. Bears 2024 No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams has been overwhelmed by the passing load and speed of the NFL game and struggled to get the ball off quickly. Meanwhile, Titans second-year pro Will Revis has made costly mistakes while looking like a quarterback who would greatly benefit from a year or two as a backup.
Why can’t coaches realize that their hyper-aggressive tactics handicap their quarterbacks? There are plenty of examples of how effective quarterbacks with average skill sets can be if their play-callers are diligent in supporting them with a balanced game plan.
On Sunday in Green Bay, Matt LaFleur, just three weeks after being traded to the Packers, got the notorious Malik Willis off the hook. LaFleur passed 32 times to running back Josh Jacobs, who finished with 151 yards rushing. The Packers ran 21 additional rushing plays (Willis had six) and finished with 261 yards rushing, while Willis only threw 14 times. Willis completed 12 of his passes for 122 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a passer rating of 126.8.
Compare that to the workload and ineffectiveness of his game-day opponent, Richardson. The second-year pro made just his sixth career start and regressed 34 times, completing just 17 passes for 204 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. It wasn’t the most spectacularly entertaining performance, but Willis still helped the Packers to a 16-10 victory. I’d rather have an ultra-conservative win any day than three confidence-killing interceptions and a loss.
Maybe the NFL needs an application process where teams in need of a quarterback have to show a clear and effective plan for developing prospects in order to gain draft approval. Just kidding. But with quarterbacks spending less time in college and entering the NFL less developed than ever before, NFL decision makers will have to be more patient than ever in developing and managing young quarterbacks.
An impulsive, short-tempered approach has ruined careers and doomed franchises to struggling for years, resulting in heads flying and rightly so.
(Top photo: Chris Greisen/Getty Images)
