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The Carolina Panthers helped secure another poor season by trading top wide receiver Diontae Johnson. But at least they aren’t planning a full-fledged fire sale. Despite turning 2024 into a lost cause, the Panthers will still turn back to aging Andy Dalton at quarterback when he’s healthy, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
“Previously benched Bryce Young had some positive moments in place of Andy Dalton on Sunday, completing 24 of 37 passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, by far his best performance of the season,” Fowler wrote. “But I get the sense there's a good chance Carolina turns back to Dalton, assuming his injured thumb heals.”
This is an odd take for a Panthers team that has nowhere to go. Dalton is old (37) even for quarterbacks. There’s no hope he will make an impact for the franchise. And while Young has been awful, he’s still a former No. 1 overall pick for the Panthers
Panthers QB Bryce Young running out of time to figure it out
Another reason for the weird take by Fowler is Young actually showed a little punch against the Broncos, according to Panthers head coach Dave Canales comments to nbcsports.com.
“(Young) found some great completions throughout the game,” Canales said. “I thought the chemistry, finding Xavier (Legette), finding Jalen (Coker) a couple of times, finding D.Mo (David Moore). There were some things that I was really encouraged by. And I think he took steps in that regard. And I think that, the whole process, the pre-snap operation is the focus and the intent for us improvement-wise.”
The only real negative Canales seemed to find came from Young getting things done before the snap. That seems like a very fixable issue for the Panthers
“I thought he played fast,” Canales said. “I thought he was very decisive. He had some scrambles, (and) he threw the ball away in some situations — which it was the right thing to do. (Also), he found a little bit of extra time in the pocket to get some of those late completions, (and) dealt with a pretty good rush group some things they threw at him. That was encouraging.
“That part of it to see him play with that type of speed and urgency that showed up on gameday was great. And so I was excited about that. And now again, like I said before, just focusing on the pre-snap operation, get up there, be decisive, try to keep the pressure on the defense is where we’re heading this week.”
Canales said Young led the team well at times, according to charlotteobserver.com.
“I thought he had some excellent drives,” Canales said. “I thought he had some excellent throws in there. The offense will be the first to tell you there were some things all across the board in the run game and the pass game. We’re just asking Bryce to do his one part of it.”
And yet, Dalton looms.
