2 winners (and 3 losers) from the Carolina Panthers benching Bryce Young
By Dean Jones
It's been another turbulent week in the not-so-prestigious recent history of the Carolina Panthers. Head coach Dave Canales benched quarterback Bryce Young after just two games following another indifferent outing against the Los Angeles Chargers. This brought celebration for those looking to take a victory lap, but it did nothing to detract from the grave situation this perennial bottom-feeder finds itself.
Any optimism fans had that better days were ahead under yet another new regime is long gone. That's sad to say after just two contests of the campaign, but it's the harsh reality. Andy Dalton is expected to work miracles and drag this downtrodden franchise back to some semblance of competitiveness. Good luck with that.
Young is staying professionally defiant and is looking to continue his development from a lesser role. Whether that'll be in Carolina or not remains to be seen. Situations like this normally end up with a parting of the ways, so it'll be interesting to see how things play out in the weeks ahead.
It's far from ideal, so Canales must find a way to pick up his squad. With the dust settling on a seismic shift, here are two winners and three losers from Carolina's decision to bench Young.
Winners and losers from the Carolina Panthers benching Bryce Young
Loser No. 1
Bryce Young - Carolina Panthers QB
Let's get the most obviious one out of the way first.
Bryce Young was failed by the Carolina Panthers at every turn. That's not up for discussion given the toxic environment he was thrown into and the complete dysfunction from top to bottom across the organization. However, the signal-caller also acknowledged that although the benching was not something he expected, his performances weren't good enough.
Confidence dwindled to breaking point. Young didn't look assured despite the improvements to Carolina's offensive line. The belief within the locker room had diminished significantly and frustrations were growing. Dave Canales had a choice to make and decided on an early switch to prevent things from spiraling further.
This broke the supposedly blossoming relationship between the two sides. The Panthers are reportedly not looking to trade Young right now. But they're not going to come out and say it publicly for fear of losing more leverage.
It's a humbling experience for Young that can go one of two ways. Either he uses this as a source of motivation and makes improvements, or he falls by the wayside entirely and finds himself facing an extremely uncertain future.
There is no in-between.