Eighteen starts into his NFL career, quarterback Bryce Young has been benched.
So what’s next?
It’s hard to know with certainty, because it’s never easy for rational minds to predict with any accuracy the behavior of the irrational. Or, as the case may be, the dysfunctional.
Presumably, Young is done. Barring injury to new starter Andy Dalton. There’s no other current in-house option, other than Jack Plummer, who’s on the practice squad.
Maybe this is a Zach Wilson-style breather. More likely, it’s the product of the whimsy of owner David Tepper, whose fingerprints are on every decision made and/or cup containing each drink thrown.
Tepper, by all appearances, fell in love with Young. Now, Tepper has fallen out of love with him. Tepper could still fall in love with him again.
Or Tepper could prevent that by trading Young — if someone would trade for him. He’s making $915,000 in salary this year. He has $10.125 million in fully-guaranteed pay for 2025 and 2026.
Would Miami make sense, if Tua Tagovailoa would be out for the rest of the year? Beyond the Dolphins, there aren’t many obvious choices, for now.
If nothing materializes before the deadline (which is seven weeks away), the question becomes whether the Panthers would trade him in the offseason to one of the teams who had him above C.J. Stroud in the 2023 draft (and, no, the Panthers weren’t alone).
This all assumes that Tepper won’t change his mind, again, at some point before the end of the season. Tepper wants what he wants when he wants it, and one of the benefits of being in charge is that he can change his mind. And un-change it. And re-change it.
Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton told reporters on Monday that he was surprised head coach Dave Canales has elected to switch quarterbacks. But he’s looking forward to being back on the field as a starter.
“I’m really excited for this opportunity,” Dalton told reporters, via Kassidy Hill of the team’s website. “When I came here, I wasn’t sure if I was going to get another opportunity to start again. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m excited about what’s ahead.
“It’s a tough situation. I’ve been on both sides of it and it’s hard for everybody. But for me, I’m looking forward to it.”
Dalton, 36, made the Pro Bowl three times as the Bengals quarterback from 2011-2019. He’s since started 30 games for Dallas, Chicago, New Orleans, and Carolina — his one previous start for the Panthers coincidentally also coming in Week 3 of last year.
Carolina had signed Dalton in the 2023 offseason to give them a solid veteran presence at quarterback to help mentor a rookie. Dalton said he had embraced that role.
“[F]rom the moment I got here, I was going to do everything I could to help Bryce. And to try to help this team,” Dalton said. “So, I was giving my input on certain things. I was able to see it from my point of view and kind of share that. But moving forward, it’s like I get a different opportunity to affect the game.”
“Hopefully, our friendship and everything that we’ve built from the moment he got here will stay, and I know it will,” Dalton added. “It’s one of those things, I think he even said it in his press conference after the game, in hard times, your true colors show. For him, I feel like he’s going to come out and be the same person. But I feel for the whole situation. It’s not fun for anybody. Just got to keep moving forward.”
But as the Panthers head into Week 3, Dalton said he’s “fired up” to once again be a QB1.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it,” Dalton said. “But when he told me, it’s one of those deals like, well, this is one of those things I’ve been praying for, another opportunity. And I’ve got it now.”
The Raiders pulled off an impressive comeback in the final minutes of Sunday’s game in Baltimore as they went from 10 points down to 26-23 winners over the Ravens, but head coach Antonio Pierce isn’t focusing on the way things ended.
Pierce said on Monday that Sunday’s fourth quarter effort is “what it needs to look like for all four quarters.” On Sunday, the Raiders punted on all three of their first quarter possessions before turning the ball over in the second quarter and they didn’t make it into the end zone until there were less than three minutes left in the third quarter.
Pierce wants the Raiders to make sure they don’t repeat that kind of effort by easing up as they move toward a Week Three game against the hapless Panthers.
“We’ve got a lot of things that we need to correct,” Pierce said, via Mark Anderson of the Associated Press. “It was a win yesterday, but there were a lot of things in that first quarter that were ugly, in that first half that were ugly and in that third quarter that were ugly. We’re not worried about the Panthers. We’ve got to fix the Raiders.”
One thing the Raiders can emulate from the fourth quarter in Baltimore is putting the ball in the hands of wide receiver Davante Adams and tight end Brock Bowers. The team has not run the ball well, but Adams and Bowers overwhelmed the Ravens down the stretch and getting them more involved earlier in games could help open other things up as defenses try to keep those two from running wild.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales said on Monday that his decision to bench Bryce Young in favor of Andy Dalton comes down to one overriding factor: Dalton gives Carolina its best chance to win.
Canales noted that after he watched the film of Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Chargers, he talked with G.M. Dan Morgan and executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tillis before making the decision and informing the quarterbacks this morning.
“A lot of factors that go into it for this decision. And, ultimately, just kind of landed on my shoulder to be able to make the best decision for our group to give us our best chance to win this week,” Canales said in his Monday press conference. “And we focus on the weeks, we focus on the challenge at hand. We feel like Andy gives us our best chance to meet the challenge.
“This was my decision. This is our football team. This is trying to win on a weekly basis. And while it’s my decision, I gather information from the people that are critical to making these kinds of decisions. But this is something I felt like gives us our chance to take a step forward in our play style and to be able to compete this week against a really good Raiders team.”
Canales did not say it, but his words, tone, and demeanor made it appear as if this is not a temporary benching to give Young a break before inserting him back in the lineup. Instead, Canales continually said that he and the team were only focused on this week.
“We’re focused on getting Andy ready to play the Raiders,” Canales said. “And we’ll take it like that — we’ll attack the Raiders. We’ll attack this week and get that mentality and the things that we’re looking for.
“I don’t want to get into timelines,” Canales later added. “I just know Andy gives us our best chance to win right now.”
Canales also did not put forth any sort of plan for Young to return to QB1.
“I certainly hope he just shows up every day, works hard, focuses on his job, and continues to push himself,” Canales said. “Andy’s going to get the pertinent reps for our practices. He’s going to be in there with the first group. We’re going to ask him to step in the huddle and continue to push the ball forward as we grow into the offense I think we can become.”
When asked about how this could affect Young and his confidence, particularly as a No. 1 overall pick, Canales said those factors were discussed.
“I hate to sound like a broken record, I just owe it to all the guys — the coaches, the staff, the players, everybody involved — to be really critical about what we put on film, what I’m seeing, and make sure that I’m constantly making the best decision for the team. Every week,” Canales said. “And it happens to be the quarterback position, so it’s loaded that way. But it’s every position. And it’s all the guys. And I was able to stand in front of the team and challenge all the guys, that we all have to step up our passion for what we’re doing to play with the play style that we’re looking for.”
And when it comes to how Young can best respond, Canales kept it simple.
“Yeah, just a standard of NFL football,” Canales said. “Show up, work hard, be focused, be engaged, give everything you have every day pursuing your best and growing.”
Through two games this season, Young has completed 55 percent of his throws for 245 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. He’s averaged just 4.4 yards per attempt with a passer rating of 44.1.
After Sunday’s loss to the Chargers, head coach Dave Canales was asked if he might bench quarterback Bryce Young and play Andy Dalton and replied, “Bryce is our quarterback.”
Canales has apparently changed his mind.
Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, the Panthers are benching Young to start Dalton — beginning with this week’s matchup against the Raiders.
Young, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft, has looked overmatched in his first two starts of the season. He has completed just 55.4 percent of his throws for 245 yards with three interceptions. His passer rating is 44.1 and he’s averaging just 4.4 yards per attempt.
Last season, Young finished 2-14 as a starter, having completed 59.8 percent of his throws for 2,877 yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Coincidentally, Young did not play in last year’s Week 3 game either, as Dalton made his only start of 2023 against the Seahawks.
Dalton, 36, completed 58.6 percent of his throws for 361 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in three appearances for the Panthers last year. Back in 2022, Dalton finished with a 66.7 percent completion rate, throwing for 2,871 yards with 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions for the Saints.
A longtime starter for the Bengals, Dalton has amassed an 83-78-2 record.
