Much of the Carolina Panthers’ offseason was about helping quarterback Bryce Young bounce back from what was largely a disastrous rookie season.
The expectation now is that Young will finally look like a player worthy of being selected with the first pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, but he suggested during a chat with Ryan Gaydos of Fox News Digital he’s doing all he can to ignore any outside noise.
“For me, I really look at it is trying to do the best I can with whatever’s in the building,” Young explained. “I always feel like you want to be the best that you can in every game, in everything you do. And what happens around me and what goes on doesn’t affect any of that.”
Following Young’s debut pro season that included the firing of head coach Frank Reich in late November, the Panthers hired Dave Canales as Reich’s replacement. Canales received praise for how undersized signal-callers performed when he served as quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks and as offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Panthers clearly hope he can the most out of their QB1, who is listed at 5-foot-10.
The Panthers also bolstered their offensive line and acquired wide receiver Diontae Johnson from the Pittsburgh Steelers before Carolina added receiver Xavier Legette and running back Jonathon Brooks to the roster via the draft. Fair or not, the perception exists that Young is in a better position to succeed than he was a year ago even though Brooks will miss at least the first four weeks of the regular season while on the non-football injury list.
“The goals are always trying to work toward something and capture what’s tangible and the goals we set within the building and the goals we have for ourselves are really what I base things on,” Young continued. “I listen to people in the building. I listen to my teammates and my coaches.”
The regime that made Young the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft is no longer running the Panthers, and recent history shows that clubs often lack patience regarding the quarterback position. The Steelers moved on from Kenny Pickett, a 2022 first-round choice, after just two seasons. As Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports pointed out, four of five quarterbacks drafted with first-round picks back in the spring of 2021 are no longer with their original teams.
Young insisted while speaking with Gaydos that he’s focusing “on what we talk about in the building” rather than on what quickly became an uncertain future. Young could soon learn, though, that individuals “in the building” who didn’t draft him won’t stay committed to him for long if he disappoints with his play through January.
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