Mel Kiper Jr. went scorched earth on the Panthers for their handling of the Bryce Young situation.
After Carolina announced it was benching the 2023 No. 1 overall pick following an 0-2 start, the ESPN NFL draft analyst took to the World Wide Leader’s airwaves to rip the beleaguered franchise, which is now turning to veteran signal-caller Andy Dalton.
“I think ‘mishandled’ is the word,” Kiper said on “Get Up” on Tuesday. “Because when you drafted Bryce Young, (you) knew he was an outlier. Russell Wilson was bigger, taller, but only 5’10 and three quarters, that opened it up for the 5’10 quarterback.
“But Russell Wilson was 205-208 (pounds) coming out – not 180. Kyler Murray, because of Russell Wilson, became the No. 1 pick overall. Different body type [than] Bryce Young. So you knew Bryce Young, not only short, but small, diminutive quarterback, needed help, right?”
The Panthers took Young with the top pick out of Alabama, passing over Ohio State’s CJ Stroud after the quarterback threw for 8,200 yards with 79 touchdowns in two seasons for the Crimson Tide.
Young had some bright spots during his rookie season, including beating Stroud and the Texans in Week 8, but the team finished 2-15 with Young throwing nearly as many interceptions (10) as touchdowns (11) and just 2,877 passing yards.
“Also, continuity, you draft a quarterback, everybody said he’s got this great infrastructure in Carolina around him with the head coach, the coordinator, the quarterback coach, everything there, the senior assistant. Everything’s in place,” Kiper said.
“And then you see him beat CJ Stroud on the field as a rookie. You take out the three games he threw multiple interceptions, he was six touchdowns, three picks. [He] had some decent games last year.”
Young has now played under three head coaches just 18 games into his career after the team fired Frank Reich midseason last year, installed interim coach Chris Tabor and hired Dave Canales over the offseason – a rate of change that’s too much for a young quarterback, according to Kiper.
“But then you go into this year, you change everything because CJ Stroud’s doing so well in Houston. ‘We got to destroy this thing, we got to blow it up and start over because CJ Stroud’s doing so great in Houston. These coaches aren’t getting it done.’” Kiper said. “So we bring in an offensive coach who was with Baker (Mayfield) and others. Bring in a new pass game coordinator, new quarterback coach for Bryce Young.”
Despite the new coaching staff in Carolina and a shaky rookie season, Young made just one brief appearance behind center during the preseason, something that puzzled Kiper.
“Bryce Young played one series of the final preseason game against the nobodies on defense for the Buffalo Bills,” Kiper said. “Does that make sense to you? And two games in, we’re saying he can’t play.
“Yes, his confidence was shattered. Yes, he does need to sit behind Andy Dalton for a little bit. But to blame this on Bryce Young is ridiculous. The blame here goes to the organization, the owner, mishandling this young quarterback.”