Earlier this week, the NFL world received a jolt to the senses when it was revealed that Carolina Panthers starting quarterback Bryce Young was being benched in favor of backup veteran Andy Dalton after an 0-2 start to the season. The Panthers were blown out in each of their first two games, and Young's struggles from his rookie season continued, forcing head coach Dave Canales to make the drastic decision.
One person who has a lot of insights into the dynamics that go into monumental decisions in NFL locker rooms is legendary wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., who recently took to the Dan Patrick Show to relay his assessment of the situation.
“You got to roll with the next guy. People don’t want to hear that but that’s how it is. If Bryce got hurt, we’d be saying the same thing, who is the next guy up. Next man up is there,” said Smith. “For whatever reason we feel like this situation is now all of sudden that Bryce is done. I’m hearing everybody talking about he should be done, trade him. I think the fact that they sat him down, I think that’s a good thing.”
Smith also broke down why he believes the move will ultimately be in Young's best interests.
“The reason I believe that is a good thing is because listen, you see a young man sitting there and you throw him in a swimming pool and you see he's drowning a little bit, you don’t remove him from the swimming pool and throw him in the ocean and say with the bigger tides he should be okay,” said Smith. “Because he was drafted first overall he should be fine or get rid of him. How about allow him to sit back, evaluate, and then maybe train him gradually and put him back in there when he can also learn the game.”
Did the Panthers get it right?
Of course, there is no overall consensus on whether or not the Panthers indeed made the right move in benching their 2023 number one overall pick.
On the one hand, Young clearly has struggled to adapt to the physicality and speed present at the NFL level and has put up statistics that rank him at or near the bottom in virtually every category.
On the other, it's certainly worth considering how much of that can be attributed to the objectively horrible roster the Panthers have surrounded him with.
Carolina next takes the field with Andy Dalton under center on Sunday in Las Vegas vs the Raiders.
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