Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young shrugs off critics on road to redemption

David Tepper thought Bryce Young gave the Carolina Panthers the best chance to win Super Bowls. He believed the Heisman Trophy winner could be the point guard of the offense. This would allow the franchise to spend less on weapons to surround him with and invest more in defense.

Whether or not Young is Super Bowl-bound remains to be seen, but Tepper's thought process after the draft did not work. Even the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL need weapons and a strong offensive line to excel.

In the 2024 offseason, Tepper had an epiphany. The owner who has been criticized for his over-involvement in personnel decisions appears to have taken a back seat.

Dave Canales and Dan Morgan used the waiver wire to surround themselves with players they have familiarity with, sacrificing several Panthers from the previous regime. There are no flies on the wall amidst a radical roster regeneration. Players who underperform will walk the proverbial plank.

This aggressive roster churn provides an enriched base of talent for Canales to work with. Of his priorities, the most burning is to provide Young with the support system needed.

Carolina Panthers are giving Bryce Young a clean slate in 2024

The Panthers quarterback has heard the noise this offseason. With the stellar performance of C.J. Stroud, those who squabble from a distance were perplexed by the signal-caller's struggles when he did not match the trailblazing NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He certainly feels the heat. But for now, he shrugs it off.

The elephant in the room will once again be the Panthers’ owner. The organization has spent heavily on the offensive line, inking contracts with Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis worth $153 million combined. They used three of their top four draft choices on skill players, providing the weapons the team neglected to bring in last season. 

Through a series of decisions, the Panthers have exhausted all resources, investing in a system that will begin to allow their second-year quarterback to thrive. In that same breath, the excuse that the offense around him is not talented enough dissipates.

Even though his surrounding cast of talent is poor relative to other quarterbacks in his draft class, there will be pressure on Young to show improvement. He will be battling the trend of stagnation and regression that tends to infiltrate many second-year players under center. As the tape of the 23-year-old circulates throughout film rooms, his opponents will develop stronger game plans.

The prime concern for the No. 1 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft is to perform well enough to win. A big second-year leap can land him in the realm of Josh Allen - who after struggling as a rookie, found himself with NFL MVP votes.

Perhaps the most similar case study to the Panthers’ quarterback is Trevor Lawrence. The former Clemson star had a disastrous 3-14 rookie season with 17 interceptions. Many of those troubles were ascribed to his coach, Urban Meyer, who repeatedly stirred controversy within the Jacksonville Jaguars and was eventually fired for his behavior.

With a new coach, Lawrence went on to throw 25 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. He led his team to the divisional playoff round. Most importantly, he earned a long-term contract with his team.

Substantial improvement from Young's first season will secure his long-term future with the team. However, he traverses each week with obvious peril. Look no further than Mac Jones, Zach Wilson, Kenny Pickett, and Justin Fields. The former first-round picks find themselves on the bench, their tombstones rest on the fields that belong to the teams that abandoned them.

For now, his coaching staff and teammates have his back. The old regime has left with egg on its face. They bear the blame for the Panthers' laughable season last year. Young wasn't without issues, but he was far from the biggest problem.

With a drained swamp, a new system, and a bright-eyed coach, Young gets a clean slate. Canales has ambitious hopes for a division title. The Alabama product will look to turn this prophecy into reality.

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