Will the Panthers’ putrid season leave lasting marks on rookie QB Bryce Young?

12/11/2023
After the Carolina Panthers used the No. 1 pick on a slightly built, 5-foot-10 quarterback, most of the preseason focus was on whether Bryce Young would be broken physically playing against the defensive behemoths populating NFL rosters.
But Young has proved resilient through the Panthers’ first dozen games, missing only the Week 3 road loss to the Seattle Seahawks with an ankle injury. The more pressing question surrounding Young has become this: Is his confidence breaking — and with it, his mechanics — under the weight of one of the worst seasons in franchise history?
This season was always more about Young’s development than wins and losses. And after Young completed a season-low 36.1 percent of his passes Sunday in a 28-6 road loss to the New Orleans Saints, Panthers interim coach Chris Tabor was asked whether Young can gain anything by continuing to play in an offense that hasn’t scored more than 18 points since Oct. 15.
“Absolutely,” said Tabor, who replaced Frank Reich on Nov. 27. “I think he’s going to continue to improve. That doesn’t concern me at all. We ran the ball for 200 yards today. So I know you’re going right there at (criticizing) the line. But we ran the ball for 200 yards. Somebody’s blocking ’em.”
Under Tabor and offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, the Panthers offense looks a lot like it did last season under interim coach Steve Wilks, who tasked play caller Ben McAdoo with devising run-first game plans in the hopes of winning despite a quarterback roster that included Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and PJ Walker.
The Panthers’ two most prolific running games in terms of attempts have come in the first two games of the post-Reich era: 34 carries last week at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 39 on Sunday at New Orleans.
The difference is last year’s offense still featured wide receiver DJ Moore and an offensive line that avoided injuries until Week 18. This year, the Panthers’ top receiving threat is 33-year-old Adam Thielen, and the line has gone through starting guards like Tom Cruise has burned through marriages.
So when Justin McCray, who recently spent a month in Florida after the Panthers cut him, injured his calf on the game’s first offensive play, it was just the latest turnstile rotation at a position that last year could lean on Brady Christensen and Austin Corbett as bedrocks until both were hurt in the season finale against the Saints.
But back to Young.
Brown’s decision to get Young under center more has helped with the timing in the run game, as well as creating some separation for receivers on play-action passes. Chuba Hubbard turned in another strong game with 87 yards on 23 carries, and Miles Sanders finally contributed something of significance with a 48-yard run in the third quarter.
That gave the Panthers (1-12) a first-and-goal at the 1, which for the Philadelphia Eagles’ brotherly shove crew and many other teams would have produced an easy score. But nothing has come easy for the Panthers offense, especially in short yardage, where Young’s size is a hindrance and coaches refuse to revisit the package they had for Andy Dalton in such situations early in the season.
Following Sanders’ big gain — his first play this season longer than 15 yards — the former Eagles running back lost a yard on first down. Young was sacked for a 9-yard loss on second-and-goal before getting pressured and throwing the ball away on third.
It was that type of day for Young, who had more rushing yards (32) than passing yards (29) at halftime. The 2021 Heisman winner from Alabama completed a season-low 13 passes in 36 attempts for 137 yards and a 48.0 passer rating, which was another career worst.
One area where Young has been consistent all season: postgame accountability.
“Lack of execution, especially from myself,” he said of the passing game struggles. “I missed a lot of things. I thought we played well on the perimeter, played well up front. But I’ve gotta continue to get better.”
It’s not like Saints quarterback Derek Carr was lighting it up. The veteran quarterback — whom the Panthers met with at the combine before deciding to go the rookie QB route — threw for only 41 yards and was picked off by Derrick Brown in the first half. According to the Fox broadcast, the teams’ 58 combined net passing yards were the fewest in a first half in any NFL game this season.
But Carr began to find a rhythm in the second half. And when he had a receiver streaking open behind the Panthers’ secondary, he hit him. Carr’s 44-yard strike to A.T. Perry midway through the fourth quarter helped give the Saints a two-score lead and pretty much ended things.
Compare that to Young late in the first half after Brown’s second career interception gave the Panthers the ball in Saints territory. Young had rookie Jonathan Mingo running open on a deep post and overshot him by several yards.
That was about the time that Fox color analyst Jonathan Vilma, a former Saints linebacker, mentioned how Young looked uncomfortable in the pocket and was bouncing on his feet instead of getting them set underneath him.
“You watch his footwork,” Vilma said, “and it’s not settled.”
Young’s footwork became a thing late in Reich’s brief, 11-game tenure. General manager Scott Fitterer and offensive coaches believed Young wasn’t getting deep enough in his dropbacks, leading to some of the protection issues.
With four more sacks Sunday, Young remained on pace to finish with 64, which would be the fourth-highest total in NFL history. But there were times when the line gave Young a clean pocket for some slower-developing plays and either receivers weren’t open or Young couldn’t connect.
On a fourth-and-1 from the Saints’ 36 midway through the fourth quarter, Young made a good read and throw to running back Raheem Blackshear, who was lined up wide. But Blackshear slipped in his route and the pass fell incomplete.
Tabor, the special teams coordinator, had no explanation for why the passing game has been a season-long slog.
“I don’t know that answer. Because if we had the answer, we would’ve already fixed it,” said Tabor, whose special teams unit also had a rough day.
“It’s something we’ve gotta continue to work on. And when you pitch and catch, we’ve gotta pitch and catch. Had opportunities. And whether a guy’s open or not, put it on him. Guy’s open, catch the ball. There’s a lot of things.”
The Panthers are running out of time to fix them. They have four more games to get Young clicking, win a game and avoid becoming the NFL’s first 1-16 team since the switch to a 17-game schedule.
But the real work will take place next spring and summer when a new coaching staff — and perhaps a different front office — gets a chance with Young. It would help if there were reinforcements out wide and up front.
Until then, there’s not much left to do other than hope this putrid season does not scar the 22-year-old quarterback too badly.
“We’re all sick of it. We’re all tired of it. But that doesn’t entitle us to anything,” Young said. “It’s on us ultimately. … And we have to do a better job to prevent that. So no matter how tired we are, we’ve gotta be better.”
One more month and it’ll all be over.