CHARLOTTE, NC — Carolina Panthers players knew the department was tackling the quarterback with the top pick for the April NFL Draft, but until Commissioner Roger Goodell named Bryce Young from Alabama, they weren’t sure which one.
The ensuing group text between the players expressed overwhelming approval.
Nothing that happened during the offseason, which ended Wednesday, changed that.
“We knew we were going to get Doug,” Dont Jackson said as the Panthers wrapped up a mandatory two-day mini-camp. “We are definitely happy with the doge we got. It’s different.”
From driving to the respect of his teammates to taking command of the offense to understanding protection from accuracy to pocket awareness, Young has checked a lot of boxes over the past couple of months.
Former Crimson Tide star veteran Andy Dalton has already been promoted to No. 1 on the depth chart, where he will be when training camp opens in late July. There’s no reason to believe he won’t be a Week 1 starter against the Atlanta Falcons.
Young has yet to prove himself in stands against a real pass rush and the defense he’s planning against, but with the Panthers headed into five-week vacation mode, there’s little doubt that the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner was the right choice.
Young is determined to be even better when the freshmen report to Wofford College on July 26th. This is called accountability, the core of his leadership.
“It’s great to be in the dressing room where, first and foremost, we hold ourselves accountable,” he said. “We look in the mirror first. And because of that, we kind of have that mentality, we can count on each other to pick each other up.”
Let’s take a closer look at a few of the key boxes Young checked:
Leadership and respect
Wide receiver DJ Chark noted during the voluntary portion of the OTAs that Young had earned the respect of the entire locker room.
He said, “Everyone is here for him.” “And we think it can take us to some really high places.”
Edge rusher Brian Burns said so.
“It’s hard not to love this kid,” he said. “He puts a stamp on the locker room. He walks around with this kind of — excuse my language — ‘Humble but I know I’m kind of…’. You know? He’s got it, but he’s Humble with it.”
crime command
Admittedly, Young didn’t spend a lot of time getting to know Charlotte’s restaurant and social scene. He spent most of his time buried in the “game book” only [getting] Ready for the next day.”
Because of that, his command of the offense was evident on the first day of off-season training in the way he took charge of the rally, made all the throws and did it in a cool manner that made everything look easy.
“He did everything right, the little things thrown in the flats, the little bubble screen things people knocked over,” coach Frank Reich said that day. “He threw neatly, saw it well, and knew where the men were supposed to be.”
Young finished off camp this way, passing a touchdown from the red zone through a tight window to wide receiver Adam Thielen.
Pocket awareness and protection
This, in particular, caught the attention of the 32-year-old Teelin as he entered his 10th season in the NFL.
“There’s a lot of talk about it, so there’s not a lot of surprise,” said Thelin. “For me, it was probably his movement in the pocket, his ability to get the ball out on time but to do it in a way that’s not just, like sitting in one stagnant spot.
“Sometimes this time of year it can be easy when you’re not getting spanked, you’re not wearing pads…to just sit there, not freak out, and throw it in. But you can tell it’s playing like a game… It was This is really impressive.”
Accuracy and throws off schedule
One of the best examples happened last week during a 7-on-7 workout when Young Shark found himself deep on the go.
“I wasn’t really the main read,” Shark said. “But I think Price wanted to take that shot, so he threw it. … This is the kind of thing we need to keep doing going forward….”
The coverage got him to Chark, Young said, but it was the kind of play the Panthers haven’t gotten much in the past few years—the kind that caught the eye of former Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. during Young’s pro day. .
Young got to know the Hall of Fame candidate well during the offseason when Smith stopped by to watch practices. Young is overwhelmed by every word of the player he calls a “legend”, another move on goal.
“Every chance I get to pick his brain, and hear what he thinks about things, he tells me how he feels, whether those things are about me and workable or just other things,” Young said.
So short?
The only noticeable concern about Young prior to the draft was his size (5-foot-10, 204 pounds). Can he throw punts on huge NFL defensive lines? Can he take the bombing?
Although some of those questions wouldn’t be answered until he played a game, his size wasn’t mentioned in interviews until he caught a rare pass in Tuesday’s practice and again on Wednesday.
But Reich felt it was no big deal.
“I actually thought we were going to see more balls being hit because we weren’t going to go live and tell them not to hit the middle,” Reich said. “I didn’t think much of it.”
Neither did Young after a few moments of the self-evaluation that is part of his DNA, and which his teammates believe will become infectious.
“We’re all behind him, we’re all behind him,” Jackson said. “People have dumped him in the face for a long time. We’re rolling with him now.”