Bryce Young comments on what he learned watching Andy Dalton

Matt Alquiza | Nov 3, 2024

Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The benching of Bryce Young was the juiciest storyline of the early NFL season. The he said she said, he did she did, gossipy back and forth fed families for days inbetween weeks two and three. His replacement, Andy Dalton, performed admirably in his limited action, but everybody knew that Dalton's time as the starter was limited.

A traffic accident opened the door for Young to reclaim his role as the starting quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, and with his impressive performance in a win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Young may have seized it back for the long-term. Following the victory, Young talked with CBS' Amanda Balionis about how his time on the pine helped him succeed this afternoon.

Young: Still got improvements to make but we're grateful for this one

"Just being more comfortable in the system. Spending all the time just watching and growing — trying to take mental reps."

- @Panthers QB Bryce Young on what he picked up while watching Andy Dalton

🎤 @Amanda_Balionis pic.twitter.com/VdCHDAFCfr

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 3, 2024

"Just being more comfortable in the system. Spending all the time just watching, just growing, trying to take mental reps. Trying to just take ownership of the system. Still got improvements to make, but you know we're just grateful for this one."

This whole situation has played out beautifully for first year head coach Dave Canales. He was brought to Carolina to "save" Bryce Young's career, and if that sole task was the measuring stick that Canales and his crew would be judged by, they had unequivocally failed after two weeks. However, Young's play in weeks eight and nine showed glimmers of the prospect profile that was drafted at number one overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Young looked like the new version of his old self on Sunday

Young was calm, cool, and collected against the Saints. The incessant, unnecessary pocket manipulation that marred Young's ability to play quarterback in the early season was nowhere to be found. The sophomore signal-caller stood tall in clean pockets all afternoon and delivered strikes to all levels of the field. Young threw his fair share of (schemed) short passes, but he also connected on six (should have been seven) attempts further than ten yards downfield. The bar for success is low for Young due to his limited NFL history, but he absolutely cleared it today.

NFL Next Gen Stats

It is unclear if Young will get the nod as the Carolina Panthers cross the Atlantic Ocean to take on the New York Giants in Germany next week, but in this author's opinion, he has absolutely earned it. The leaps Young took from week two to week eight, and then week eight to week nine are worth building on. Give him another start next Sunday, take the bye week to reevaluate his standing with the franchise, and continue to build from there.

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