Bryce Young is already on his second offense in as many years as an NFL quarterback. But according to the guy who’s installing the new one, it’s not much of a problem thus far for the 2023 No. 1 overall pick.
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales spoke with reporters following the offseason’s first outing of organized team activities on Monday. Not only did he state that Young is doing a “fantastic” job of picking up the playbook, but he said the 22-year-old passer is making his job a lot easier as well.
“Deep ball, short, intermediate—he’s a really accurate passer,” Canales said when asked of Young’s throwing ability. “I think one of the things that I love is, I can really focus in on his footwork and his base and the mechanics of where his eyes are at when I know the ball is hitting the receivers. So for the last couple of weeks, [he’s] been throwing on air. I don’t have to worry about where the ball’s going. He’s very accurate.”
Inconsistent footwork was the chief concern regarding Young during his rookie campaign—one in which he averaged just 179.8 passing yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. But Canales, who already has a pretty good idea of how to shuffle those feet towards success, seems to believe the foundation is there.
“They’re pros, right? So people have this expectation that quarterbacks are accurate,” he added. “But I know that some guys are more accurate than others. So I think it’s the ability of Bryce to be able to throw to different body types, different speeds, different quickness at the top of routes. So I’m really impressed with that part of it.”
