Bryce Young has one option left to salvage Carolina Panthers' career

The Carolina Panthers have their franchise quarterback. That’s the lead I was hoping to write sometime this season, but it'll have to wait. That's a sad thing to say after just two games of the 2024 campaign.

After an 84-passing-yard performance against the Los Angeles Chargers, head coach Dave Canales opted to bench quarterback Bryce Young. Veteran backup Andy Dalton will lead the offense in Week 3 at the Las Vegas Raiders. How long this lasts remains to be seen.

I expected to see a player who simply was not fit to play in the NFL upon further examination of the game film. I can say with confidence that this was not the case. What I did see was a player who simply is a shell of their former selves. Not only as a prospect but even as recently as last season during a turbulent rookie campaign for Young.

The Panthers put on a masterclass on how to break a fledgling quarterback. From the terrible head coaching hire, a meddling owner, a turnstile across the offensive line, a lack of creativity in play calls, and no separation from the wide receivers, nobody would have thrived in this environment.

All that complied together gets you a quarterback who doesn’t excel in his strengths anymore and is afraid to be hit. Young's confidence is sapped. The Panthers had to take him out of the firing line.

Carolina Panthers must work on rebuilding Bryce Young's confidence

Rebuilding confidence isn’t something you can do easily. Being benched 17 games into your career and two weeks into the season isn’t necessarily a boost for a player's morale. If Young continued to play and struggle, he simply was not going to become the player he once was let alone projected to be. This was a lose-lose situation.

The only source of positivity I can offer is Tua Tagovailoa. He was also benched in his second year. The Miami Dolphins provided him with prominent weapons the next season and head coach Mike McDaniel consistently preached his belief in him. The improvements were drastic - something that earned the signal-caller a ton of money along the way.

Could that be the story for Young? I hope so for the sake of this team's future. But for now, we could be looking at his last game as a Panthers player. That's just as likely.

If Young ever gets another chance for this team, he must be prepared and then some. The Panthers need him back to navigating muddy pockets and stepping up when a lane is there. The Heisman Trophy winner must return to being poised and cold-blooded under pressure and trusting his offensive line to give him enough time to play.

He needs to become better at identifying blitzes pre and post-snap and knowing where his answers are. Young must put in significant time to develop his footwork. He needs to marry his feet with the play's concept consistently. Learn that when you hit your back foot, do not begin to hop around - stand strong in the pocket like he did during his time with the Crimson Tide.

If he ever does get another opportunity and he cannot fix those things, Young's time in Carolina is over. However, it might be regardless.

Maybe taking a second to breathe and learn behind a veteran will benefit Young. Maybe it won’t. Regardless, he needed to be better despite the toxic environment provided by the Panthers.

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