The Carolina Panthers are in a tough position. Sunday’s season-opening loss to the New Orleans Saints was one of the most-pathetic performances in franchise history and an ugly omen for what’s to come the rest of this season. Right now a lot of fans are no doubt eager to hit the reset button and prepare to pick a quarterback early in next year’s draft. However, some analysts are advising a more deliberate kind of approach.
Doug Farrar at Athlon Sports has done a deep dig into the three worst performances by NFL quarterbacks in Week 1, including Daniel Jones, Deshaun Watson and of course Bryce Young. While all three qualify their respective teams as residing in quarterback hell, the Panthers at least have it better than the New York Giants and the Cleveland Browns. For one thing, there’s still time for Young to get better, and at least they haven’t a sunken massive long-term contract into him yet, nor has Young been a liability off the field. Here’s Farrar on what the gameplan for Young should be.
Doug Farrar on what Panthers should do with Bryce Young
“Canales should get a bit more time to help develop Young, and Young should get a bit more time to be on the same page with all the new parts. Young should also get a few more games in which his opponent isn’t his own personal nightmare. The Panthers aren’t going to contend for anything beyond a first overall pick they can actually use, so getting Young on some kind of positive path should be Job One.”
It’s fair to let Young take some more time – at least a few more starts with Canales guiding him – and not having the Kryptonite Saints defense on the other side. Still, it won’t take much more for the front office to get restless and start looking for other options around the league. They might start out with Andy Dalton, but even if he were to ball out like it’s 2011 that does this team no good in the long run.
For now the Panthers should probably follow Farrar’s advice and not make a panic move. Wait and see how Young does over the next several weeks, then either try to find a trade partner for a potential upgrade or start doing their homework on the 2025 class of quarterback prospects.
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