New Revelations Show Why Panthers' Bryce Young Had NO Chance as a Rookie

Ask anyone who watched the 2023 Carolina Panthers, and most will tell you the same thing about quarterback Bryce Young: the poor guy never had a chance.

Young's early struggles can be attributed to a number of different situations. A meddling owner in David Tepper. A head coach past his prime that barely made it halfway through his first season in Charlotte before he was canned. An offensive line that couldn't stop a nosebleed. A receiver room where the only guy who could catch anything was 33-year-old Adam Thielen. One can even pin some of the blame on Bryce himself.

Recent revelations, however, show (at least part of) the reason why Young's rookie season was doomed from the get-go.

The Carolina Panthers Changed Their Offense Three Times Before The 2023 Season.

According to David Newton, ESPN's Panthers beat reporter, a "source close to Bryce Young" revealed that the team revamped their offense three(!) separate times during the offseason.

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

It's difficult enough for any rookie to learn a playbook, even more so for quarterbacks. Trying to implement three different offenses during one offseason simply shows ineptitude on the part of the previous coaching staff in Charlotte.

Fans and analysts alike praised the Panthers last offseason for putting an "all-star" coaching staff around Young. Frank Reich, a "quarterback whisperer" was named head coach. He hired Thomas Brown, the former assistant HC to the Los Angeles Rams' very own Sean McVay, as the offensive coordinator. He brought in Jim Caldwell, a veteran coach who worked with QBs such as Peyton Manning and Matthew Stafford, as a senior assistant. He also hired former QB Josh McCown, who at the time was a rising name in the coaching world, so much so that he warranted a head coach interview with the Houston Texans.

Many thought the blend of philosophies amongst such a diverse staff would propel Young to early success. Instead, what everyone saw was one of the worst rookie seasons for a quarterback in recent memory.

Young posted a stat line that is still hard to look at: only 2877 passing yards (over 16 games, that averages out to less than 180 per game) and 11 touchdowns, while completing only 58% of his passes. He also threw ten interceptions and fumbled 11 times. In addition, he was sacked 62 times, becoming the second-most sacked rookie QB in the history of the NFL (in 2002, then-Texans rookie QB David Carr was sacked 76 times).

The staff not only failed to help their players succeed, but their own actions also worked against the very notion of success. Multiple coaches last season believed other staff members were contacting Dave Tepper behind their backs about the team's issues, festering what team sources called a "Hunger Games" culture, according to The Athletic's Joe Person.

In short, this team had far too many problems last season for anyone to have a chance at success, much less a rookie QB.

Young has performed well so far in training camp but has yet to see any action in preseason games. The Panthers will play their final preseason game at the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, August 24. Head coach Dave Canales has been noncommittal on whether or not Young and other starters will play.