The benching of Bryce Young turned out to be a good thing for the Carolina Panthers in the short term.
But the big picture is what will matter most. It isn’t close to developing clarity.
Young’s replacement is Andy Dalton, who did his part by throwing three touchdown passes in Sunday’s 36-22 surprise victory at Las Vegas.
Combined with Carolina’s first victory of the season, the best part for the Panthers is the narrative took a sudden turn toward Dalton’s success and away from Young’s troubles.
Remember, Young was dubbed by owner David Tepper as the quarterback who would guide the Panthers back to prominence—for those with good memories, the franchise has had success—when he was the overall No. 1 draft pick in 2023 out of Alabama.
Two games into Young’s second pro season, the Panthers weren’t willing to wait any longer, turning away from Young and handing the quarterback reins to Dalton.
The notion that this could be a temporary arrangement lost steam with Sunday’s outcome.
For their parts, Young and Dalton have said all the right things during the past week.
Dalton, in his 14th NFL season, sounded giddy with the excitement of returning to first-string status. He wasn’t sure he would ever get that chance again since he became somewhat of a journeyman since parting with the Cincinnati Bengals, where his career flourished at times.
After the outcome in Las Vegas, Dalton’s elation couldn’t be hidden.
“It’s so much fun when you haven’t had it in a while,” Dalton said.
Young has taken a team-first approach in the aftermath of the decision.
“Just trying to be the best version of myself and do whatever I can to help the team,” Young said. “ … (As a) competitor, obviously not what you dream of, what you think is going to happen.”
Even Sunday wasn’t all stress-free given what preceded that trip to Las Vegas. The Panthers scored a total of 10 points in their first two games, unable to generate any offensive flow with the ball in Young’s hands.
So even with first-year coach Dave Canales securing his first NFL victory, there was reflection on what all this might mean for the Panthers and their QB, who was supposed to be the foundation for the future.
“A really heavy week, just with all the factors,” Canales said.
In Young’s defense, he didn’t appear to be surrounded by the greatest supporting case, though the way Dalton delivered might suggest otherwise. The Panthers have operated under three head coaches in a two-season span, certainly not providing Young, or any young player, with much stability. They turned in an NFL-worst 2-15 record last year.
This season, the Panthers were a league-worst 9.1% (2-for-22) on third-down conversions in the two games with Young at the controls. In two games this month, Young was 31-for-56 for 245 yards and three interceptions.
Dalton threw for 319 yards without an interception against the Raider. And perhaps even better for the Panthers is that the attention could shift away from the Young topic for at least another week.
That’s because Dalton not only became part of a success story again, but he’ll get the start Sunday against the Bengals, who visit Charlotte. The built-in connections between Dalton and the Bengals will be a welcome distraction to the larger issues that the Panthers still must address.
It’s easy to keep Young, who was at midfield for Sunday’s pregame coin toss as one of Carolina’s captains, on the sideline for now. But the Panthers are just one injury away from having Young forced back onto the field.
So this story is bound to have a few more chapters.
