When the Carolina Panthers announced they were benching 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young in favor of Andy Dalton for their Week 3 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, most assumed it was the beginning of the end of Young’s future with the team.
However, head coach Dave Canales did his best to try and dispel any speculation that Young was on his way out of Carolina during his news conference with reporters on Wednesday.
“[Trading Young is] not something we’re really considering,” Canales said. “We have a great situation with our quarterbacks right now with guys that have experience. We love where we’re at and we’re all hands on deck. We’re focused on playing the Raiders this week.”
The 36-year-old Dalton hasn’t fared much better than Young in his season-plus with the Panthers, completing 34-of-59 passes for 361 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Young’s benching is understandable given how ineffective he’s been through the first two games of the season, but also puzzling from the perspective of derailing his development for the sake of trying to win a few games (most expect the Panthers to be picking near the top of the 2025 draft.)
Per Pro Football Focus, Young has the worst completion percentage under pressure (25), the second-lowest yards per pass attempt (4.4) and the fifth-worst completion percentage (55.4) among QBs with 20 or more drop-backs, and he’s one of two QBs (Caleb Williams is the other) with four or more pass attempts over 20 yards without a completion.
It’s not known whether Young’s benching will stick for the rest of the season, but the 23-year-old QB has been linked to several other teams in trade talks recently including the Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants and Miami Dolphins.