Week 8 might’ve brought a familiar type of result for the Carolina Panthers, but Sunday’s loss to the Denver Broncos felt, at least, a little different.
The top storyline for the team heading into yesterday’s matchup was Bryce Young’s return to the starting lineup. The second-year quarterback had been benched just after two starts in September, and got another chance in place of an injured Andy Dalton.
Young, obviously, didn’t deliver in those first two outings of the season—leading the Panthers to a total of 13 points and a pair of defeats. So this weekend presented the 23-year-old with an opportunity to prove why he was the first overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft.
And, perhaps to the surprise of many, we saw a quarterback who began to look like that prospect the Panthers invested in last spring.
As head coach Dave Canales stated in his presser following the 28-14 loss, Young played efficiently in the pocket and displayed his escapability when needed. He also—compared to earlier in the campaign—showed more confidence, poise and composure throughout the outing, even when the suffocating Denver defense applied the pressure.
While the urgency was up and down, especially with a couple of delay-of-game penalties, the willingness to test the defense down the seams and vertically was encouraging to see.
That started on the first drive of the game for Carolina. This was classic Young–the one many remember at Alabama.
He has a knack for being able to manipulate defenses with his quick-twitch body movements and eyes. Young used his eyes to move the single-high safety just enough to open up a void to put the ball where he needed it to go, giving the Panthers the early lead.
This is another example of Young using his eyes to manipulate the defense
One thing that is noticeably different from Weeks 1 and 2 was his willingness to work through progressions while exploiting space for ideal passing lanes. With the linebackers playing man, it opens up the intermediate middle of the field.
These following two deep throws from Young are what many were hoping he’d attempt throughout the game. Canales’ offense requires the quarterback to test defenses vertically, though Young is not particularly a rocket-armed passer.
Either way, you want your young quarterbacks taking shots downfield when able. Displaying trust in his offensive line for these vertical throws is a positive in itself.
Young’s first interception is something that seems contested.
There is an argument that he and tight end Tommy Tremble were not on the same page in terms of the throw, the route and where the ball needed to be. The other side of that argument is that Young made a good decision with the football, though the throw itself was bad and off the mark by a decent amount.
I lean more toward the latter, with the looping defender flashing in Young’s face forcing him to speed up his process and release. The timing was off—and with more reps in live action, these errors can be corrected.
Young wasn’t perfect, and he’ll be the first to say it was not his best game. Yet, this performance should show fans that Young is progressing—particularly when it comes to handling pressure, retaining confidence as a passer and testing the defense vertically.
In this case, it’s not about the box score for Young—who ended up completing 24 of his 37 attempts for 224 yards, two scores and two picks. It’s about the eye test.
There are questions as to whether or not he should be the starter this week, and that’s something Canales still has to answer. It’s also unclear whether or not he even trusts Young, despite the growth that was shown.
Either way, Young should be the Panthers starter for the rest of the season—especially if the team is looking to focus more on development from this point forward.
