3 lessons the Carolina Panthers must learn heading into Week 5 at Lions
By Ricky Raines
Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young is improving
While I thought that Bryce Young showed more rookie jitters than perhaps anticipated to start the season, the young (no pun intended) franchise quarterback seems to be finding his footing and learning the ropes each week. It’s all part of the process - testing out what you can and cannot succeed in doing when you take that jump from college to the pros.
Young finished the afternoon with 202 passing yards (season-high) on 25-32 attempts, good for a 78.1 completion percentage (also a season-high). For the first game of his career, he did not throw a touchdown. He also avoided an interception for the second straight start, although he did lose a critical fumble in the third quarter that was taken to the house by the Minnesota Vikings for a back-breaking score.
The signal-caller's 6.3 yards per attempt is an encouraging sign. During Young's previous two starts, he’d registered YPA of 3.8 and 4.6. Despite throwing 12 passes behind the line of scrimmage thanks to a barrage of screens, the No. 1 overall selection put some nice work together attacking the middle of the field in the 10–15-yard range of depth.
The #Panthers coaches should let BY9 do BY9 things. That’s why you take an outlier like him at one overall.
— Ricky Raines (@rickyboboddy) October 3, 2023
If you take away his improvisation and ability to create out of structure by way of a thousand screens, you’re doing your whole team a disservice. Find balance. pic.twitter.com/GNNs9ioVzs
We saw flashes of the ‘wow factor’ creativity that Young has been known for. During one specific play in the third quarter, he evaded pressure, navigated through traffic, and then stopped on a dime to deliver a strike to Adam Thielen for a critical third-down conversion.
The offense will need more of this Young as the season goes on and they attempt to string together victories… eventually.