4 remaining riddles the Carolina Panthers must solve after Frank Reich's firing
By Noah Bryce
Is Bryce Young the guy?
Getting the burning question out of the way first here, but it is a legitimate one. Is Bryce Young even remotely the player many thought the quarterback could be coming out of college?
Let's just take a look at some statistics. While numbers aren't everything, they do paint a fairly distressing picture.
Young is on track for the worst rookie season by a quarterback taken No. 1 overall since David Carr in 2002. To put that in perspective - as well as put an asterisk on it - that is on par with JaMarcus Russell in his second season, only 300 more yards than Joe Burrow had in his injury-shortened rookie campaign, and over 1,000 fewer yards than Cam Newton.
While stats are not everything, this is nowhere near encouraging. The other thing to keep in mind when looking at these statistics is just how much the NFL has changed since the era of Russell and how much more dependent the league is on the passing game.
The touted decision-making has evaporated in the face of an NFL defense. Young's elusiveness looks more like someone who is clearly overmatched athletically, and the arm talent down the field is less than non-existent.
That isn't to say there isn't a possibility for a sophomore leap, as this is fairly common in the NFL. Especially with a new Carolina Panthers coaching staff and better players around him if recruitment goes well this offseason.
The first and biggest riddle to solve is how to maximize Young's obvious talent. Something Frank Reich was unable to accomplish during his brief time as head coach.