The inherent risk of taking Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft was, of course, his size. And on Monday night, the Carolina Panthers might’ve given us a look into how they’ll try to mitigate that.
On two separate short-yardage situations from the Week 2 loss to the New Orleans Saints, head coach Frank Reich subbed veteran Andy Dalton in for the 5-foot-10, 204-pound Young. (Because if you haven’t been able to tell, the quarterback sneak may not be the strongest part of Bryce’s game.)
Buy Panthers TicketsThe first instance was essentially scrapped, as a false start on right guard Cade Mays caused the Panthers to abort what was a fourth-and-1 try for a 54-yard field goal. The second resulted in a first down off a third-and-1, when Dalton flipped the rock to running back Miles Sanders for a 5-yard gain.
Reich was asked about those decisions relative to Young’s size limitations.
“That could be part of the plan. It’s always a week-to-week plan,” he said on Tuesday afternoon. “Every opponent is a different opponent. So, that’ll be a weekly decision. Andy’s a very experienced guy. So, if we’re bringing him in there to do whatever we’re bringing him in there to do, we feel like he’ll do a good job of it.”
He then went on to (kinda) compare that approach to that of the Saints and quarterback Taysom Hill.
“Bryce can do any of it,” Reich added. “But you got an experienced veteran. There’s no golden rule that says he can’t come in and play a couple plays in the game. Look what the Saints did. I know Taysom Hill’s a different story, but why not do that to a lesser extent if it can be utilized in a positive way?”
As far as Hill’s story from last night, he was utilized in a very positive way for New Orleans. The physical passer/runner/thing-a-ma-bobber rushed for a game-high 75 yards on just nine carries in helping seal his team’s victory.
And as far as Carolina’s story moving forward, we’ll just have to take it—as Reich noted—on a week-by-week and inch-by-inch basis.
