Panthers’ Bryce Young gamble backfires after fumbling Caleb Williams and C.J. Stroud – and Tom Brady ‘predicted’ it in warning to NFL
The Carolina Panthers' decision to draft Bryce Young could haunt them for years.
The lowly franchise, who have started the season 0-2, made the seismic decision on Monday to bench the 2023 No. 1 overall pick and start veteran quarterback Andy Dalton instead.
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The undersized former Alabama Crimson Tide signal caller has gone 2-16 as a starter in the NFL.
Young had almost as many interceptions (10) as touchdown passes (11) during his rookie campaign, and his woes have continued this season as the Panthers have given up 73 points and scored just 13 in blowout losses to the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers.
Young, a Heisman Trophy winner, is not entirely culpable -- the Panthers have one of the worst offensive lines in all of football -- but the stats, 245 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions, speak for themselves.
The slender, 5ft 10in quarterback has rarely looked comfortable under center since being selected with the top pick in last year's draft.
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His throwing mechanics have gone haywire, he appears to panic in the pocket, and his constant poor decision-making often leads to turnovers.
“After watching the film and taking in all of the information I feel like Andy gives us the best chance to win,” Carolina head coach Dave Canales said after making the decision to move Young to the bench for the foreseeable.
Russell Wilson cost the Denver Broncos a fortune in dead money and Deshaun Watson's contract continues to hamstring the Cleveland Browns, but the Panthers' decision to trade up for Young -- and the sacrifices they made in order to get him -- make it one of the costliest decisions in recent memory.
Young's benching is the fastest a No. 1 overall pick has ever lost their starting spot in the NFL.
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That's bad enough in itself, but even worse when you consider what the Panthers gave up in order to make him the face of their franchise.
Carolina traded up eight spots in the 2023 NFL Draft to nab Young, in turn sending wide receiver DJ Moore and four draft picks to the Chicago Bears.
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The 2023 1st-round pick turned out to be OT Darnell Wright, the 2023 2nd-round pick became CB Tyrique Stevenson, and, perhaps worst of all, their 2024 1st-round pick - which ended up being the number one selection for a second year - was used to take perceived generational quarterback Caleb Williams.
But the pain doesn't end there.
The Panthers still owe the Bears a 2025 2nd-round pick as part of the Young trade, meaning they will continue to hand over valuable draft picks to the ascending Bears well into next year.
After their poor start, there is even the possibility that it could be the first overall selection. Again.
This is all from a franchise who previously traded players like Christian McCaffrey and Brian Burns in the prime of their careers and have absolutely nothing to show for it.
To compound their misery, they also get to see C.J. Stroud balling out for the Houston Texans week in and week out when they could have had him in the Panther blue, black and silver.
Carolina could have --and should have -- drafted C.J. with the No. 1 overall pick last year, but they gambled on Young and their loss was Houston's gain.
In his rookie season, Stroud led the rebuilding Texans to a division title and playoff victory en route to winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
Stroud is already a top five QB in the league in Year 2 and looking like a perennial MVP candidate for the next decade barring injury. Young, meanwhile, doesn't even look like a professional football player right now and has been removed from the Panthers' starting unit.
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Young's benching, and the myriad mistakes, missteps and errors that have led to it, have done nothing to dispel the belief that the Panthers are the worst run team in football and David Tepper is the most incompetent owner in the NFL.
"Owner should be forced to sell," one fan posted on X after the news of Young's benching.
"Worst run NFL franchise by far," added another.
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On a human level, Young's benching is unfortunate for a once top draft prospect who had an impressive 79 touchdowns in just 27 starts at Alabama.
However, Young's trajectory is a cautionary tale that throwing a young field general into a mess of a situation and asking them to be a franchise's saviour is often asking too much, too soon.
Tom Brady warned the NFL about this very issue during an impassioned address on a live broadcast of 'The Stephen A. Smith Show'.
While he didn't address Young's situation directly, TB12's comments about young quarterbacks not getting the development they deserve -- and need -- is especially pertinent in light of the recent news coming out of Carolina.
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Brady : "There used to be college programs. Now there are college teams. You're no longer learning a program you're learning a playbook. And the program is ultimately like at Michigan for me that was a pro-style program.
"For five years I got to learn how to drop back pass, to read defences, to read coverages, to be coached. I had to learn from being the seventh quarterback on the depth chart to moving up to third, to ultimately being a starter.
"I had to learn all those things in college. That was development. Then I went to New England and I was developed by Coach (Bill) Belichick and the offensive staff there. I didn't start my first year I think it's just a tragedy that we're forcing these rookies to play early.
"But the reality is the only reason why they are is because we dumbed the game down which has allowed them to play.
"It used to be thought of at a higher level. We used to spend hours and hours in the offseason, in training camp, trying to be a little bit better the next year but I think what happens is it discourages the coaches from going to deep levels because they realize the players don't have the opportunity to go to a deep level so they're just going to teach them where they're at."
Veteran Dalton will now start in place of Young although Canales insists the former is still his QB1.
36-year-old Dalton was drafted in 2011 by the Cincinnati Bengals, spending nine seasons with the team before moving on to Dallas.
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He started one game for the Panthers last season when Young was injured, throwing two touchdowns and zero interceptions in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
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