It appears the Carolina Panthers didn’t draft quarterback Bryce Young with the No. 1 pick to sit the rookie behind free-agency signing Andy Dalton in September.
Panthers insider David Newton of ESPN wrote for a piece published Monday that “the plan is for Young to be the Day 1 starter with Dalton available just in case.” Newton added that 2022 third-round pick Matt Corral and unproven commodity Jacob Eason will battle over the third spot on the depth chart.
Corral sat through his rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury he suffered last summer.
“Corral won’t get many reps in camp, just as was the case last year before he suffered a season-ending foot injury in the preseason,” Newton continued. “But Corral obviously was unhappy prior to this year’s draft when he posted on social media he doesn’t want to be ‘in a place where no one sees your value.’ He’s since deleted that. General manager Scott Fitterer called this a ‘fresh start’ for Corral, adding that if he competes and makes plays, ‘we’ll see where it goes from there.'”
Fitterer told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio just last week that “we don’t have a timeline” as it pertains to when Young will start.
“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,” Fitterer said about Young.
Fitterer also suggested during the conversation that the Panthers may need to improve the interior of their offensive line before they start the undersized Young against a live first-team NFL defense.
After Young measured in at 5-foot-10 1/8 and weighed 204 pounds at the combine, ESPN NFL Draft guru Todd McShay admitted he does “worry” about the Alabama Crimson Tide signal-caller suffering injuries in the league similar to the issues that Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has dealt with during his career.
Assuming Newton is correct, it seems Fitterer and head coach Frank Reich aren’t concerned enough to keep Young a spectator behind Dalton through at least the first several weeks of the 2023 season.
