The real reason behind Bryce Young's rookie struggles was finally revealed

It turns out there was little Bryce Young could do during his rookie season to play better.

His struggles, though apparent , weren't all his fault. Heading into the first snap of his rookie season, the Carolina Panthers didn't make it easy for him, shifting the offense repeatedly.

"We changed the offense three times in the offseason,'' a source close to Young's situation told ESPN's David Newton . "That's not gonna be beneficial for anybody, let alone a rookie quarterback. The philosophical alignment wasn't always there.''

All the changes resulted in an inconsistent season that saw Young throw for 11 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and 2,877 yards in 16 games. He completed a shockingly low 59.8 percent of his passes while being sacked a record-breaking amount.

He went 2-14 in games he started. The Panthers finished the year 2-15 overall.

"It's hard to evaluate [Young] just because of some of the stuff that happened in the offseason leading up to training camp that didn't really give Bryce the best opportunity to be ready and prepared for the season," a source told Newton.

After Young's brutal rookie season , the Panthers rebuilt the offense. Carolina added Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis on the offensive line. In the passing game, Carolina added Diontae Johnson and Xavier Legette.

Now the onus is on Young to live up to the potential seen in him while he played for the University of Alabama.

"I’ve seen enough good stuff from Bryce to let me know that what he needs is we got to cover him," tight end Jordan Matthews said, via the Panthers' official website. "From the receivers to the o-line, to the running backs, protection, pass game, in the media, we’ve got to cover that young man. He’s got a lot on his shoulders, but golly, he’s a winner.

"You don’t just wake up one day and win a Heisman. I talk about it all the time, you see somebody at the top of a mountain, but they didn’t get dropped off there. They climbed it.”