The Carolina Panthers struggled to the tune of a 2-15 record in the first year with rookie quarterback Bryce Young under center. Heading into year two under Young, new head coach Dave Caneles stated that he now plans to “reboot” Young in hopes of turning his career around.
Young went through his fair share of struggles individually last year, throwing for 2,877 yards with only 11 passing touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing just 59.8 percent of his passes.
The Panthers’ struggles offensively went far further than just Young’s play. But simply put, success starts and ends at the quarterback position. And Young’s play will certainly need to improve significantly in order for the Panthers to become a contender in the NFC.
Canales made a guest on NFL Network’s studio show The Insiders, where he discussed how changing Young’s footwork will be the start of his “reboot” plan for his young quarterback.
“So it is no different than the approach we took with Russell (Wilson), Geno (Smith), and Baker (Mayfield),” said Canales. “We are going to become the concepts where Bryce looks most confident. We look at the concept and then say how can we make the footwork intelligent to this concept? That’s the part where you start to grow what kind of three-step drop. Just building his library with that type of inventory within the drops.”
New #Panthers coach Dave Canales told me the reboot of Bryce Young begins with footwork. So what exactly does that entail? Canales gave a fascinating answer on The Insiders. pic.twitter.com/7Fp21zYzyB
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 26, 2024
Young’s footwork was a pretty big area of concern last year. And Canales appears to realize exactly that, which could go a long way in his development as a quarterback.
Still, without some significant improvements to the rest of the Panthers’ offense outside of Young, there may still be some growing pains for the young quarterback in the upcoming 2024-25 season.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.