The Seattle Seahawks are set to host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday for their Week 3 matchup, which means it will be Pete Carroll’s first chance to coach against Bryce Young, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. There’s plenty of intrigue surrounding the matchup between the Panthers, who are seeking their first win, especially since, according to Coach Carroll, they’ll be taking on the “best player in America” in Young.
“He’s the best player in America,” Carroll told reporters on Wednesday, regarding Young’s draft status. “He’s got great instincts and savvy and playmaking and confidence and all of that stuff or they wouldn’t have done it. I expect him to be terrific. If he’s the guy out there playing, then we expect him to be able to do a lot of stuff. He’s a very natural athlete, a really gifted athlete so he can move really well and create stuff. Those guys always cause problems.”
Pete Carroll commenting on Bryce Young
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While Carroll was speaking about Young’s status last season when he was still leading the Alabama Crimson Tide, Young’s brief experience in the NFL through two games has been a much different story.
Young has completed just 59 percent of his passes, turning the ball over three times (two interceptions, one fumble lost). He’s also attempted 71 passes, making his 299 yards, which averages out to a paltry 4.2 yards per attempt, look pedestrian compared to other starting QBs, such as Tua Tagovailoa, who leads the NFL at 9.5 YPA.
In fact, the Panthers have been much better off running the ball than dropping back to pass, considering they average five yards per carry as a team through two games. While Coach Carroll may have been impressed by what he’s seen from Young in the past, we just haven’t seen that same level of consistency early on, but being that he’s still just 22, the 2021 Heisman winner has plenty of time to improve as the weeks go by.
Related: See where Bryce Young lands in our NFL QB rankings