Improving two key flaws will change everything for struggling Bryce Young

Bryce Young's second year kicked off with the worst start in the Carolina Panthers' history. For a guy with a lot to prove, he sure has a lot to work on.

After a 47-10 loss to their division rival New Orleans Saints, a lot of Panthers fans are ready to jump ship on their sophomore quarterback. For good reason at that. So, I decided to look through the stats, analytics, and most importantly tape to evaluate what went wrong and where he can improve. 

It’s no secret that the Panthers were not ready to play. They were kicked around in all four phases as if it were a Week 0 game between an FCS school and a Power 5 team in college football. It was even more evident when watching the tape of Young against the Saints' blitz packages.

The coaching staff had no answers. Young had no answers, and it led to an embarrassing offensive output. The Panthers were consistently behind the sticks and placed in third in longs where Dennis Allen could ramp up some of the best blitz schemes in his toolbox.

Young was blitzed on 34.2 percent of his dropbacks - up from the 28% from his rookie year. He consistently missed blitzes and could not see where the pressure was coming from, leading to Carolina's offense going 1-for-10 on third down.

That was not the only issue Young showed on tape. He was the most inaccurate I have ever seen him in a Panthers' uniform. He missed high. He missed low. He put the ball in the other team's hands all from being off target. 

The Heisman Trophy winner posted an ugly 43.3 percent completion with 13 successful throws on 30 attempts. That was the worst of any quarterback in the entire league for Week 1, but that is not all he finished last in.

Young had a 32.8 passer rating, which was the last in the NFL. He had a -16.9 completion percentage over expected - second to last to only Daniel Jones. He also finished bottom five in EPA per dropback and overall EPA while passing. There is no excuse. The former Alabama star was very inaccurate. The stats, film, and analytics show it. 

Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young must improve two critical flaws after Week 1 debacle

The good news? It’s only one game. Things can only go up from here, right?

The first and easiest improvement area for Young is his identification of the blitz. Going back to the player's days at Alabama, he struggled when facing exotic pressure alignments pre-snap. It has translated into a major issue in the NFL.

While head coach Dave Canales said that only one protection call was the fault of the quarterback, he still struggled with getting the ball out when pressured. He also failed to get a good feel for identifying where the blitz was. Young was lost, to put it kindly.

He must learn to locate pressure, where his answer is for said pressure, and what his protection call should be. Taking this leap would do wonders for Young’s game and the Panthers' offense overall.

Young also needs to enhance his accuracy on the field. This is the hardest area to improve because the terrible accuracy on display was an outlier. Even so, the No. 1 pick in 2023 still should work to improve his footwork and balance when passing.

His feet did look improved from last year. But until Young has the sort of machine-like footwork of guys like Drew Brees, we will see misses. It’s a slippery slope because he is such a great improviser, you do not want to limit those abilities by turning Young into a statue that doesn't create out of structure.

This will be the hardest thing to develop. It could be a year-long process or even more, but it is necessary.

It is a long season, and Sunday was just one of 17 games. The Panthers' coaching staff and front office would be fools to give up on Young this early into his second season. Carolina should focus on development, a lost art in today’s NFL.

If they can fix these two important elements, we could see an incredibly good quarterback. Only time will tell.

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