Bryce Young once again gets a chance to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
Top draft picks at the position are easily regenerated. The Carolina Panthers are currently treating Young as if he was standing in the batter's box after missing a third-down at-bat.
He's out. It's possible he could be deemed safe, but only if the current battery also fails.
Young is the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, costing the team some draft picks and No. 1 receiver DJ Moore. As Carolina's team's hopes explode, the Chicago Bears bring more changes than the city bus.
“Incompetent” doesn't begin to describe the Panthers' offense in Game 19 of the Young experiment. That's why journeyman Andy Dalton is the new starter and Young's future has been labeled a number of different things. Hopefully not one of them.
We don't know when Young, who is only 23 years old, will get another chance. We knew it was coming.
It's not as easy as pulling him aside and giving him time to evaluate whether he's going to be a good quarterback and watch the game from a different perspective. That means playing him as a backup for a few games and then returning the former Alabama quarterback to a first-string role.
Young is in control through the first two weeks of the 2024 season. Carolina fans willing to remember what happened in 2023 can clearly see that the offense was a complete failure under the watch of new head coach Dave Canales.
Yang had a lot of help with this.
Enter Dalton.
He knows a thing or two about how NFL offenses perform. What Dalton did in Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders lit the fire that sparked a dormant offense.
The Panthers went from brown bag joy to the explosive and efficient offense Canales promised behind center.
If Dalton somehow stays healthy and productive, he'll complicate things further and muddy Carolina's approach to the big picture with Young. Keep in mind that Dalton will turn 37 in October, about a week before the NFL trade deadline, which is November 5.
Canales notched his first career coaching victory last week with the Panthers, but it wasn't his only crowning achievement in his career. He got the job because of his ability to turn stowaway backups Geno Smith (Seahawks) and former No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield (Buccaneers) into Pro Bowl quarterbacks while the rest of the league The team thought they had been toasted long after.
Dalton looked to be on the same path with a 300-yard, three-TD game that was in stark contrast to Carolina's inept losses to the Saints and Chargers. The Panthers fell to 73-13 in the loss.
Just days after beating the Raiders, he made one of the most anticlimactic announcements imaginable: Dalton will be the Panthers' starting quarterback Sunday afternoon against the visiting Cincinnati Bengals.
No kidding.
It was a reminder that Canales can breathe a sigh of relief after a win, while Young at least experienced a less stressful Sunday than he has in weeks past. He wasn't being chased by defensive linemen or watching punter Johnny Heck pass him the other direction as he headed toward the sideline.
Since Young's demotion, the Panthers have reportedly heard offers from other teams willing to participate in trade discussions. So far, there hasn't been a deal — and perhaps not much interest in making one.
After all, the Panthers desperately want this to work with Young. Owner David Tepper is passionate about investing. That's how he made the billions to buy the Panthers.
that is Tepper signs draft pick About 18 months ago, the Houston Texans selected Ohio State's C.J. Stroud with the No. 2 pick in the same draft.
This week, Young stands in the shadows. But for how long?
He's just one Dalton ailment or a couple of Carolina losses away from returning to the game in big moments.
It was a quiet day for Yang. But when the next opportunity does come, the stakes for Young will never be higher.