Bryce Young's pocket presence
Much has been made about Bryce Young's lack of typical size compared to other NFL quarterbacks. It was arguably his biggest concern pre-draft, though it hasn't seemed to bother him too much in the pros.
If anything, Young's pocket presence seems to be getting better with every year that passes.
The game is clearly slowing down for Young. His footwork matches his upper body, and he stays aware of his surroundings. It was among his standout features in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears.
Young was never flustered. Even when pressure arrived, he escaped it more often than not while keeping his eyes downfield. The Mater Dei High School graduate now has the mindset to move on from one play to the next, and he drove the Panthers on to offset some questionable defensive efforts in the face of Chicago's well-balanced offense.
He is quickly becoming a prime example of how important it is to let quarterbacks develop throughout their rookie contracts. Young looked down and out once upon a time. But now, he looks like a savvy veteran who is only going to get better in the coming years.
His pocket presence is a big part of that. And while he'll never have the same intimidating aura as someone like Cam Newton, there are other ways to be productive.
Bryce Young couldn't have done much more in defeat
The game slipped away from the Panthers toward the end of the third quarter and into the fourth. Carolina's defense was subpar at best, and Bryce Young simply had too much to do.
Young's second half was a lot tougher than his first. The Bears made the right adjustments, and moving the chains became harder. The signal-caller tried valiantly, especially when they needed to be more aggressive, but it wasn't enough.
In truth, Young couldn't have done much more. But for the Panthers to beat teams like Chicago, everyone has to meet their end of the bargain.
The quarterback did his part. Even so, not many teams are going to win when you give up more than 50 points on home turf.
The Panthers played sloppily. But for Young, there were far more positives than negatives to take into his remaining 16 games.
This was precisely what the Panthers needed to see. Young played like a franchise quarterback, but he cannot do it alone. If the defense fails to execute and individual mistakes happen elsewhere, things can unravel quickly.
Aside from a 4-to-5-minute stretch, the Panthers were more than a match for Chicago. That was largely down to Young. But unfortunately, Ejiro Evero's defense let him down badly, which was completely unacceptable in the circumstances.
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