When the Panthers made Bryce Young the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, there was little doubt that he would eventually be the team’s starting quarterback. The only question was when exactly that would happen.
It appears that day has come.
Young has worked as the top quarterback with the first-unit offense this week at Panthers practice. Coach Frank Reich confirmed that meant that Young had officially leapfrogged veteran quarterback Andy Dalton on Carolina’s quarterback depth chart, just six weeks after the team initially drafted the Alabama product.
“It’s just the next step,” Reich said of Young’s elevation, per ESPN. “We had a couple of weeks to watch Andy. Andy has continued to perform at a very high level. We’re just trying to get our team ready. Everything is about what’s best for our team, and so this was just the next step.”
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Of course, it was always expected that Young would overtake Dalton on the Panthers’ depth chart. The team just wanted to make sure that the rookie earned the position and wasn’t forced into the role before he was ready, even during the offseason.
Young and Dalton both knew this, and that helped make the transition — which the team decided to make at the end of last week — an easy one.
“We could have shifted it, we could have moved it up,” Reich said of the timeline of elevating Young. “I really didn’t want to move it up because I thought things were going the way we wanted.
At the end of last week, I pulled Bryce aside and Andy and just said, ‘Hey, we talked about this from the beginning. You guys are doing it exactly like we wanted. We’re gonna make this switch and move forward.’
It also helped that Young was on board with that plan. And he isn’t planning on changing his approach to his development even winning the job.
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“For me, it’s about earning it,” Young explained of becoming the starter. “I’m grateful to have the opportunity that I have. I still think it’s a process. I’m grateful to be accepted by the team. It’s an amazing locker room, a great group of guys. I want to continue with that.”
“It’s not something you’re just entitled to,” he added.
That attitude has allowed Young to quickly win over the locker room, but that isn’t the only area in which he is finding success.
“He’s showing everything you want to see,” Reich said of Young, before reiterating the reason the team held off on making him the top quarterback.
“This goes back to even the draft decision. We don’t have to make a decision until you have to make it,” Reich said. “So, we’ll just keep giving him and our team the opportunity to get better and to earn that starting role. So far, he and a lot of guys have taken the step needed to earn that spot.”
