Cat Scratch Reader
The turbulent nature of the Bryce Young experience has left many wondering what’s next for the future of the quarterback position with the Carolina Panthers. The maddening lack of consistency has fans scratching their heads for ideas on how to fix his issues and critics already closing the book on the 24 year old quarterback.
The frustration is far from unfounded, but the decision on Young’s future with the team is simple: he’s the starting quarterback going forward.
While the Panthers don’t need to be rushing to the bargaining table in early December to get Young locked up to a long-term deal, another 5 game sample may be enough to spur some talks. Right now the most sensible expectations is to pick up Young’s 5th year option and lock their starting quarterback in for the next two years. Beyond that, well, let’s wait a month or two to revisit the conversation.
Here’s why.
While performance on the field remains the most important aspect of any quarterback’s job requirements, their ability as a leader of men remains uniquely important to the health of the team.
By any and all accounts, the whole building believes in Young. They believe in him as a person, they believe in him as a leader, and they believe in his talent. Interview after interview, the players answer any question about Young and throw their support behind him.
But that belief is not only manifesting within the locker room, but on the field. There’s been some speculation that Young does not have the trust of his Head Coach and play caller Dave Canales. Whether there was a kernel of truth there or not, it seems as though times have changed.
After the win against he Los Angeles Rams, it’s abundantly clear that Canales believes in Young. If he didn’t, it would not have been Young with the ball in his hands on the two crucial 4th downs with 3 or less yards to go. If he didn’t trust Young, there would have never have been the options to sling the football 30 and 40 yards down the field to score the pivotal touchdowns. If Canales didn’t trust Young, they probably don’t beat the best team in the NFL sporting the #1 ranked defense.
While the lows may be low, the highs are good enough to get you single game franchise records in passing yards and enough game winning drives to put him on lists with a couple MVP quarterbacks.
The ability is there and the stats have shown that through stretches of his career. It’s just the consistency that holds everything back and has driven all the consternation around his name. The version of Young that’s won at every level of football so far has made it’s appearances, but thus far they’ve only been cameos.
Thankfully, there is still of the rest of the season to gather even more data. Young is...
