From Roll Tide to rolling with Reich?
On Friday’s episode ESPN’s NFL Live, analysts Mina Kimes and Louis Riddick brought up the Carolina Panthers as a desirable fit for Alabama’s Bryce Young. They believe, with the coaching staff the organization has assembled, that the draft’s top quarterback prospect would thrive in Charlotte.
“The Panthers are a great pick,” Riddick concurred with Kimes, who first mentioned Carolina. “I’m a big believer in culture. I’m a big believer in the quarterback room. I’m a big believer in the coaching staff. He’s [Young] really not scheme-dependent, and quite honestly, the great coaches can adjust schemes to the point where they can really utilize a player’s strengths and minimize his weaknesses.
“Frank Reich has coached numerous different types of quarterbacks. Josh McCown has played quarterback, the quarterback coach in Carolina, at a very high level. Thomas Brown comes from an offensive system that really emphasizes play action and 12 personnel—so he knows how to scheme up the run game and marry it with the passing game.
“Think about the minds you have there in Carolina that can take a guy like Bryce Young, who you’re saying can do so many different things when you watch him. He can operate under center, he can operate from the gun, he can get out to the perimeter and throw if he needs to and he can create out of structure. Those three guys together with him, if they have the right interior group as far as guard-center-guard to protect him down the middle—so he can hit all those throws that you talk about he can hit in the middle of the field—he can take off rolling.
“The question is—you’re sitting at nine, how do you get there?”
Music to my ears.
The NFL Live crew mentions Carolina as a fit for Bryce Young.
Mina Kimes: “The #Panthers, a team we like a lot for him.”
Louis Riddick: “[Frank Reich, Thomas Brown, Josh McCown] together with [Bryce Young]… he can take off rolling.” pic.twitter.com/KAt6LFScRI
— Edgar Salmingo, Jr. ✌️ (@PanthersAnalyst) March 4, 2023
That ninth overall pick certainly won’t be enough to snag the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, so there would have to be a bold move up on Carolina’s part. But with Reich and general manager Scott Fitterer—who may be ready for that jump—singing Young’s praises this week, this potential match is not out of the question.
