Panthers GM Declares Andy Dalton Is QB1 With "No Timeline" For Bryce Young To Start
From that PFT report we have a quote from Carolina Panthers GM on the quarterback "competition" between veteran Andy Dalton and No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young and when the former Heisman Trophy winner might make his starting debut in the NFL:
"We don’t have a timeline. We’re not saying, 'Hey, this guy’s gonna start the first game or we’re not going to play him at all this year.' When the time is right or we felt like he’s got enough of a mastery of the offense where he can go out and operate this and be successful, that’s when he’ll be out there.
"We went out and signed Andy Dalton for a reason. He played as a rookie. He’s got a lot of experience. He understands his role and he can play good football. If Andy’s the guy to start the season, and he’s the starter right now heading into the season, then he’ll be the guy. When Bryce is ready or Matt Corral is ready whoever it may be, that’ll be the time they go in. We say it’s open competition, but Frank did say, 'Hey, Andy’s...our guy right now.' He’ll walk into the season as the starter and then as you know, the young guys compete underneath him, then they’ll go in when they’re ready."
I love me some Red Rifle but COME ON. Can you believe this guy? And by this guy I mean Dalton.
Andy Dalton's an ALPHA, baby. Just laying waste to phonies like Jameis Winston and any other competition who stands in his way at every turn. It took Joe Burrow being drafted No. 1 overall off the greatest college football season ever to move Dalton away from the Bengals. Ever since then, he keeps winning the hearts and minds of his new coaching staffs and improbably ascends to the top of the depth chart whether it's via injury, merit or both. Andy Dalton is the personification of physics. He's inevitable.
Now in Carolina, the soft-spoken, super-small Bryce Young is really gonna try to upstage a guy nicknamed the RED RIFLE!? Good luck, Bryce. Have fun trying to beat this dude out in training camp.
In all seriousness, I think it's stupid that you'd trade all these draft picks and your WR1 DJ Moore as a means of expediting your path to a surefire franchise quarterback, take who you believe is the best guy, and decide, "Nah, let's not give him the job out of the gates."
We obviously saw the Jets' call to immediately hand the keys to Zach Wilson backfire. We also saw Urban Meyer take training camps away from Trevor Lawrence to create a "competition" with Gardner Minshew, only to turn around and trade Minshew from Jacksonville to Philly shortly thereafter.
In Young's case, he's widely viewed as an elite processor who had a former NFL head coach and current Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien as his play-caller the past two seasons. It'd be one thing if the Panthers had taken a flier on Anthony Richardson at No. 1 overall. We're talking about Bryce Young here. Why delay the inevitable when the franchise's track record at the quarterback position has been so abysmal of late?
There's always a gaggle of folks who'll advocate for a rookie to "earn" the job no matter the circumstances. Those scenarios aren't all created equal. Every single one has a different set of variables. This one in particular favors Young to get the nod over Dalton, um, pretty much right away.
Carolina loaded up its staff with multiple QB gurus who've actually played the position in the NFL. Young is already a polished prospect who challenged coaches at Alabama with his own adjustments to game plans the first day of a practice week. I'm pretty sure he's ready t roll. Whether he succeeds as a pro or not has more to do with durability concerns and whether he can still thrive at the highest level despite his diminutive stature and slender frame. It ain't about "readiness".
Hopefully you can detect the satire and sarcasm in roughly half of this blog. My hunch is Bryce Young starts Week 1. Why Scott Fitterer feels the need to do this window-dressing charade and gas up Dalton as the current QB1 — much less even mention Matt Corral — is beyond me.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok