The Carolina Panthers were one of the offseason’s biggest spenders in free agency. The goal was building a better foundation for Bryce Young to develop in. Part of this process included changing head coaches, with the firing of Frank Reich, and hiring former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales.
Through two games of the 2024 season, the Panthers’ latest experiment has been a total failure. The Panthers have the NFL’s worst point differential through two weeks, at -60. No other team is even a -40 on the season yet, but the Panthers have been really bad, and the No. 1 overall pick from 2023 deserves part of the blame.
Related: See where Bryce Young lands in Sportsnaut’s NFL QB Rankings
Carolina Panthers bench Bryce Young, make Andy Dalton the starting QB
Less than 24 hours ago, Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales said he would stick with Bryce Young as the team’s starting quarterback. But after sleeping on it, the first-year head coach has changed his mind.
According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the Panthers have benched Bryce Young after Carolina’s 26-3 loss to the Chargers.
It was just last week when Coach Canales admitted some fault in the Panthers’ season-opening loss. But he was also surprisingly quick to point the finger at his 23-year-old quarterback too.
“There was one that Bryce could have seen, and he could have flipped the protection. He’s been fantastic doing that. That’s the only one I would say that he could have really fixed the problem. [The Saints] gave us issues with what they did. We need to do better than that. That’s coaching.”
Dave Canales on Bryce Young after Week 1
Now, the Panthers coach is heaping even more blame on the player Carolina traded two first-round picks, plus D.J. Moore for last April. Andy Dalton will replace Young as Carolina’s new starting quarterback for their Week 3 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
- Bryce Young stats: 59.3% comp. rate, 3,122 passing yards (173.4 per game), 11 TD, 13 INT, 2-16 W/L
Young has started just 18 games in his career. It remains to be seen how long it will be until the former Heisman winner reaches 20 starts. For now, he joins the likes of Tim Couch and JaMarcus Russell as other former No. 1 overall picks who were benched with their original team.
Related: 10 worst performances from NFL Week 2, including Caleb Williams and the Carolina Panthers