CHARLOTTE, NC — It was 5 p.m. on a Friday, and Bryce Young was finally done with the fanfare, from arriving at Bank of America Stadium in front of a big, boisterous crowd to banging the “Keep Pounding” drum on hugs and cuddles. shaking hands with everyone apparently associated with the Carolina Panthers.
The blue suit and white jersey he had been wearing since leaving the NFL in Kansas City earlier that morning was replaced by a Panthers jersey and casual pants.
The first pick of the 2023 draft, who looked almost embarrassed of interest, was ready to talk football.
So he stopped by coach Frank Reich’s second-floor office, kicked a chair and opened up for thirty minutes in a way he didn’t fully show during Carolina’s lengthy screening of the former Alabama quarterback.
“We talk a little bit about a vision for the offense, a vision for this team,” Reich recalls. “I just talk back and forth. It was great.”
This is the guy who prompted general manager Scott Vetterer to say two months ago in the NFL: “He’s just, like, cool.”
This is the guy Carolina owner David Tepper met at dinner the night before Alabama’s pro day, who predicted Thursday night his team would win the Super Bowls.
Welcome 🎉 pic.twitter.com/bTkzm3EwxO
– Carolina Panthers (@panthers) April 28, 2023
“Today was more about preparation,” Vetterer said of the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner. “He is turning the page now. It works now. ”
Young understands the responsibility and fuss that comes with being the top pick, but at the same time he concedes that “it doesn’t entitle me to anything.”
Where he is most comfortable on the soccer field and in the boardroom, preparing for the next steps in proving himself.
“Obviously now I’m learning the ins and outs of it, but I’ve been able to talk to everyone and hear their philosophy and I feel like it’s a great opportunity for me just to learn a lot, to be able to grow and I’m really excited,” Young said.
He knows this is where he will eventually earn the respect of his new teammates and the league, as he aims to prove the argument that being smaller than 5-foot-10, 204 pounds would be a non-issue, as he did every time. the level he played.
“Listen, this guy’s been on a lifelong mission to become the player he is,” Reich said. “But in this business, you know, because it’s always been at the highest level, it’s part of it, you have to play that role.”
Playing this role at the highest level was always Young’s goal, his father Craig remarked.
He stated that this was the reason Young went to Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, one of the best football prep schools in the country, and then to the College of Alabama.
“I always felt that way [his height] “It was easy, almost like a lazy kind of narrative,” Craig said after his son’s introductory press conference. And so I always felt we should be more focused on producing it.
The results were at the highest level. ”
The Panthers expect that to continue in the NFL. That’s why they traded four draft picks and senior receiver DJ Moore to the Chicago Bears to go from No. 9 to No. 1. That’s why they took the vacation period and added players who would make the offense as talented and complete as possible and give Young a chance to succeed.
A good example is Ole Miss wide receiver Jonathan Mingo, who fell in love with the team during their preseason visit, in the second round. Mingo’s ability to catch and block passes in tight traffic was a good fit for a team that wants to do everything it can to reduce pressure on Young to carry the load from the offset.
“We just see [Mingo] As a really good planner fit,” said Reich. “We run a lot of shallow crosses, we want to get the ball vertical. He was very effective there.
“When a player has elite skills on the ball and you have a super accurate passer like us, it’s just a really good combination. Just put it close to him. He’s got a solid hand on the ball and he’d be a great target for Bryce,” he said.
Mingo, having played in the SEC against Young, already respects what the new quarterback can do.
“It’s a game-changer,” said Mingo, recalling that he lost to Young three years in a row. “One thing about Price, he doesn’t make mistakes. He’s on his toes. He doesn’t flinch. He takes every game by play, and he takes his time.”
“He’s a smart kid.”
Florida State safety/nickelback Jimmy Robinson, selected in the fifth round by Carolina, agreed.
“He’s not the biggest, but guess what? He’s a dog,” said Robinson, who played for the SEC at South Carolina in 2020 when Young was an Alabama freshman. “You know what I’m saying? And if you are a dog, the dog will stay. ”
Young has fit that mold from the first time his father put him in the position as a six or seven year old in a YMCA league.
“There was a run there that was faster than him,” Craig said. “It was like, ‘You’re going to be a backup running back or I think our quarterback position is open. “
And so he said, “I’ll try it.” And the first time he literally backed up, he got loose and lost his balance and completed a pass. And then it was like, ‘Maybe we’ve got something here.'” ‘
“A big focus we’ve always had is putting our energy into what we can control,” Brees said. “Whether it’s expectations or circumstances, people’s thoughts and opinions. Those things, that’s out of my control.”
“That’s the beauty of sports. People get opinions. You have to have that pressure, there has to be stakes. I’m grateful for that and I’m not ashamed of it. I embrace it.”
Reich believes the Panthers have something not only in Young, but in the entire staff and team that has been assembled since he was hired in late January. Compare that to the feeling he had in 1995 when the Panthers expansion was building from scratch with him as the veteran.
That team won a seven-game expansion record and reached the NFC Championship a year later, despite Reich being replaced three games into the first season by rookie Kerry Collins.
“This is kind of a new lease on life for everyone,” said Reich. “Everyone knows that we are all aware. Everyone knows that this is a new beginning for everyone.”
It’s a fresh start for Young, too. This was why he was so eager to relax with Reich and start proving himself on another level after all the hoopla was over.
“You have to accept that without burning off a lot of energy, but he’s a very focused person,” said Reich. “I could tell at the end of the day when all this stuff was done. Man, he even opened up in a different way and it was great to see him.”