On Thursday, Carolina Panthers’ head coach Frank Reich announced that the team has decided to elevate Bryce Young to QB1 on the depth chart. This is a huge move that was probably eventually going to happen, but it’s huge because it’s a clear sign of the future.
The Panthers have done nearly everything right in the 2023 offseason, and taking Bryce Young to be their QB of the future was the icing on the cake for this team, who is headed into the right direction.
"“It’s just the next step,” Reich said. “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.”"
Free agent wide receiver addition DJ Chark had this to say about Young, the 5’10”, 204 pound QB the size of a slot cornerback:
"“Everybody is here for him,” Chark said. “And we believe he can take us to some really high places.”"
This is very high praise for Bryce Young, who was so good in college that he was actively elevating his teammates when he was at Alabama. It was about a 100% guarantee that Young was going to start the year as QB1, but this is also quite early in the offseason to make that move.
The Carolina Panthers appear to be giving Bryce Young the reigns early, and that was probably their plan all along unless something catastrophic happened.
Now, this is Young’s team, and he’ll have the next three months to show what he can do before the real thing starts.
The Carolina Panthers are going to surprise people in 2023.