The Carolina Panthers definitely need to make life easier for Bryce Young, and in order to do that, the Panthers must supply him with more weapons.
You would think that would be one of Carolina's primary areas of focus heading into the NFL Draft, but Reese Decker of Pro Football Network thinks the Panthers may be thinking a bit differently.
In a piece where Decker lists off some bold draft predictions for each team, he projects Carolina to actually select another quarterback in order to provide some insurance behind Young.
"After an early-season benching, Bryce Young bounced back and brought a little hope to the Carolina Panthers. Still, his 6-22 record as a starter is hard to ignore," Decker wrote. "He doesn’t have elite mobility, a cannon arm, or a proven winning track record. Don’t be shocked if general manager Dan Morgan takes a shot on another quarterback this draft."
Now, to be fair to Decker, he isn't necessarily advocating for the Panthers to take a quarterback early. They certainly won't be selecting one with the eighth overall pick, and they probably won't prioritize a signal-caller in the second round, either.
But perhaps Decker thinks Carolina could try to take a quarterback off the board in the third or fourth round where names like Will Howard, Tyler Shough and Kyle McCord could be available.
This isn't a very good quarterback class, neither in terms of top-tier talent or depth, so there may be anyone of note to select by the time Round 4 comes around on Day 3. However, if by chance the Panthers do like one of the signal-callers still up for grabs (like McCord, for example), Decker clearly feels they may attempt to pull the trigger.
It doesn't exactly send a great message to Young, but on the same token, he is really only played a half season of good football since entering the NFL as the No. 1 overall pick in 2023.
All things considered, though, Carolina should probably concentrate more on patching up other areas of need.