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When a team takes a quarterback with a No. 1 overall draft pick, it is very much handing him the keys to the franchise, but that inevitable transition has come quickly and smoothly with Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
The former Alabama standout and Heisman Trophy winner has been on the job fewer than two months, but despite the presence of a solid veteran in Andy Dalton, Young is already getting a starter’s reps, showing he’s ready to lead the team from his first game. The 21-year-old has also shown how grateful he is for the way his new team has welcomed him.
“Being embraced by the locker room, that means a lot to me,” Young said last week as the Panthers finished their mandatory minicamp as the last work before they reconvene late next month for training camp and the 2023 season. “There’s a lot of guys here that have had a lot of success and played a lot of snaps of NFL football. … Them embracing me and all the rookies, all the free agents, all the guys that are new here — it’s a new group, but it doesn’t feel like it in the locker room. It doesn’t feel like it in the huddle.”
It helps Young that everyone around him is also learning a new offense from coordinator Thomas Brown and a new defense from Ejiro Evero, a new way of approaching football from head coach Frank Reich. The challenge of installing and implementing new schemes this summer has brought with it a bonding aspect among players helping each other through the same learning curve.
“We’ve just all grown more comfortable with one another,” Young said. “There’s still a lot of stuff we want to iron out, stuff we want to improve on and get better at. I think we’ve been able to lean on each other for that.”
All three rookie quarterbacks taken in the top four picks in April are in that position. C.J. Stroud has a first-year head coach in DeMeco Ryans with the Texans, as does Anthony Richardson with Shane Steichen and the Colts. But Reich had five years as the Colts’ head coach to learn from successes and failures, and at age 61, he has 17 years of experience as an NFL coach, compared to 12 for Steichen and six for Ryans.
Carolina is in a tightly packed NFC South, where one win separated defending champion Tampa Bay from last place and three teams tied with a 7-10 record. Reich is the only new coach in the division, but all four teams are making adjustments at quarterback. Tom Brady retired in Tampa, so either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask takes over there, and the Saints brought in Derek Carr as the new starter. Atlanta is going with second-year pro Desmond Ridder, who took over for the final four games of his rookie season but like Young is a young passer trying to lead a veteran team.
Young and Ridder will open the 2023 season against each other, with the Panthers traveling to Atlanta to face the Falcons. Carolina then hosts the Saints in Week 2, so back-to-back division games at the outset will set the tone for which team might be the squad to beat in the upcoming season, though all four teams having at least one new coordinator will make them all works in progress.
“I feel like we’re in a great position. The vibes are immaculate,” Panthers cornerback Donte Jackson said at the end of minicamp. “Throughout OTAs, guys are just giving it their all, guys are fighting, so my expectation is to go out there and do my job at a very high level and help my team win as much as I can. … Everybody’s just excited and eager to learn more football.”
Colin Cowherd’s 2023 division winners include Dolphins, Lions, Panthers
Carolina was active in free agency, bringing in new talent to work in a new system. That includes running back Miles Sanders, receivers Adam Thielen and DJ Chark and tight end Hayden Hurst on offense, and safety Vonn Bell and defensive tackles DeShawn Williams and Shy Tuttle among many additions on defense.
As the quarterback and No. 1 overall pick, Young will be tasked with leading this team, something that happens over time and sometimes takes multiple seasons. He’s been relatively quiet in his first six weeks, but Young has established an identity with his teammates that he’ll build on as he adds NFL experience and the confidence that comes with that.
“Very even-keeled, very calm. Smart football player,” Jackson said. “You can tell he’s played a lot of football, been in a lot of high-intensity moments, a lot of big games, made a lot of big plays. You can tell with his poise, his calmness, just even keel. He’s a guy who comes to work to work.”
June is a month for optimism and excitement for what might be ahead, but it’s non-padded practices that can make players look good in a way that might not show up in September. The Panthers have little more than a month before they’re back together, preparing in Spartanburg for a season ripe with opportunity, aware of how much work is still left to be done, for their rookie quarterback and the entire team around him.
“I’m excited there’s a lot of positive energy,” Reich said. “I feel it in the building, I feel it on the field with the players, I feel it in the community with our fans, and I think our players feel that as well.
“Having been around this game for a while, you take the mode of, We want to prove it every day. Are we excited? Yes. Do we have high expectations? We sure do. I’ve learned over the years: Don’t get too far out in front of those expectations. Really try to shift those expectations not so much to results, [but] to the process of how we’re going to do it and who we’re doing it with. That will be our focus.”
Greg Auman is FOX Sports’ NFC South reporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, having spent time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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Carolina Panthers
Bryce Young
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