What were some major observations from Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young's performance at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 13?
It's been another week of turmoil around Bryce Young. The Carolina Panthers fired his head coach Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, meaning new voices and methods will be guiding the No. 1 overall selection over the team's final six games of the season.
Thomas Brown is taking over offensive play-calling once again. Parks Frazier and Jim Caldwell have been seen around Young almost constantly at practice in recent days, which cannot do anything but help his development after an indifferent campaign up to now.
Young has the tools needed to be successful, he just needs more stability and better options around him. How many alterations could be implemented in such a short space of time was debatable, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren't planning on doing the signal-caller any favors in this one.
As it turned out, Reich's dismissal did nothing to enhance matters as Carolina fell to another ugly loss versus divisional opposition when a victory was there for the taking.
With this in mind, here are four major observations from Young's performance in Week 13.
Bryce Young's game management must improve
This is a gradual process for Bryce Young. One area where he should be looking to improve is getting more consistent when it comes to the game management side of playing the quarterback position.
Handling varied situations efficiently is not where it needs to be on an every-down basis. Having more understanding of field position, distance, and clock management is going to serve him well if he can work out the current kinks.
Living to fight another day isn't the worst thing in the world. The Carolina Panthers are not in a position for anybody to be playing hero ball, so not taking losses or giving away needless penalties needs to be rectified at the earliest possible opportunity.
Playing to Bryce Young's strengths
Making wholesale changes to the offensive scheme in the days after Frank Reich's firing was unrealistic. But it didn't take long for some different intricacies to become prevalent with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown calling the shots.
Doing what makes Bryce Young comfortable seemed to be a high priority. There was a lot more of the former Alabama star under center and getting him out on the move via rollouts was another preferred method from Brown schematically now that Reich is no longer looking over his shoulder.
Pre-snap movement was more frequent, which allowed Young to have a little extra time in the pocket. The soaking-wet conditions in Tampa Bay didn't help the offense get things going in the passing game, but it was a step in the right direction nonetheless.
It's about time the Carolina Panthers started playing to Young's strengths. Reich was reportedly reluctant to go away from his original scheme rather than adjust certain elements to benefit his rookie quarterback - a stubbornness that Brown doesn't possess looking at the concepts on display in Week 13.
There is a lot of work to do and only five games remaining to salvage any semblance of growth from the campaign. These tweaks seemed to help, so expect to see more of the same in the coming weeks.
Bryce Young's hesitancy
Much has been made about the lack of quality pass-catchers at Bryce Young's disposal. It is what it is at this point, but the ongoing concern has led to some increased hesitation from the quarterback.
There are times when Young has nowhere to go with the football. There are other times when the signal-caller either doesn't trust himself or his teammates to make a play.
Again, there's no quick solution to this problem with the options available. The Carolina Panthers will likely revamp their skill positions during free agency and the 2024 NFL Draft, which can hopefully lead to more conviction from Young as his career progresses.
Young made some nice throws on occasion. His deep ball to D.J. Chark and a back-shoulder effort to Stephen Sullivan were two highlights, but the confidence and trust that became prevalent throughout his time at Alabama is missing.
Mitigating factors are in play. The scheme remained predictable despite some changes, the offensive line struggled to protect, and the defense sat on every wide receiver route knowing they couldn't get open at the second or third levels.
But at the end of the day, Young's hesitancy is the clearest sign of bad habits creeping into his game that weren't evident before he came to the Panthers.
Same old story for Bryce Young
It looked for a brief moment towards the end of the game that Bryce Young might be able to mount a fightback. But even though Frank Reich is gone, it was the same old story for the Carolina Panthers.
Young picked the worst possible time to throw an interception when Antoine WInfield Jr. picked him off late in proceedings. Just what Thomas Brown was thinking with two straight passing plays when they needed one yard for the first down is anyone's guess, but it was a bad decision from the quarterback to try and force the issue.
This is the way things have unfortunately gone for Young throughout his rookie season. Flashing isn't enough in the NFL and the record is reflective of poor performance across the board.
The Heisman Trophy winner eventually finished with 178 passing yards at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Young was sacked four times, didn't throw a touchdown, and earned a disappointing 52.9 passer rating as a result of his efforts.
One has to wonder just what Young is getting out of this turbulent experience. There's no way to know what this constant losing and underachievement is doing in terms of long-term damage, so fans will just have to hope everything comes together during the offseason and David Tepper finally picks the right head coach.
That could change everything.