How much will simplifying offense help Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young?

How much will the collective decision to simplify the offense help Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young over the next 12 games?

Bryce Young is coming along with every passing week. There might be criticism from those who don't look closely at his overall production, but there's nothing to suggest the Carolina Panthers made the wrong choice despite C.J. Stroud's exceptional start to life with the Houston Texans.

Cutting down on the turnovers would help, obviously. But considering what Young's working with, one could make a case he's reaching early expectations and is only going to get better with more experience.

The Panthers have nobody outside of Adam Thielen capable of getting open consistently. Terrace Marshall Jr., Jonathan Mingo, and D.J. Chark have flashed briefly, but none of the aforementioned trio are taking that leap to become Carolina's No.1 option.

Another complication is clock management. Young's getting calls too late, leaving little time for his teammates to recognize things pre-snap and generate any sort of momentum offensively.

Carolina Panthers must go high-tempo with Bryce Young

Carolina has gone about trying to make things easier for Young by simplifying the play-calling process. The wristband strategy has officially been implemented, which gives a number in the quarterback's helmet before he conveys the specific play in the huddle.

When speaking about the decision, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown stated via Sports Illustrated that it was a collective decision. Something that's proven to improve communication - especially in hostile environments on the road.

"It was a collective decision when it comes to us communicating with him but also us talking from a staff standpoint about finding ways to eliminate some of that verbiage from a pre-snaps standpoint. It's a lot easier to communicate a wristband number versus an entire play call when it comes to having substitutions and guys coming into the game, so it was a collective decision."

- Thomas Brown via Sports Illustrated

This won't improve Young's weapons, the lack of a running attack, or the offensive line. But it should make things easier to run a high-tempo offense, which is where the Heisman Trophy winner and the Panthers have found the most success in 2023 so far.

As for Young, he's adjusting to what appears to be an ever-changing situation in pursuit of finding the right formula. And the player has full trust that his coaches are doing everything they can for him to thrive based on comments via the team's website.

"Everyone has to make that adjustment (at the NFL level); we all go through that. And I'm continuing to grow. I feel like I've grown and gotten better and need to continue to grow and get better. But, it's a change, and I feel a lot more comfortable now, and that's thanks to the coaching, the coaches and the coaching staff and the people around me, just helping me to grow on that. Whichever way for me is just how efficient we can be in executing. And, I trust the coaches in whatever way it's been just like that."

- Bryce Young via Panthers.com

Whether it's enough to go toe-to-toe with the Miami Dolphins and their exceptional offensive scheme is debatable. However, the pressure is off with no expectations of an unlikely victory, so there's no better time to let the shackles off Young and see how he gets on.

Who knows - win or lose - this could be the spark that ignites Young and the Panthers into life. Stranger things have happened in the NFL that's for sure.