NAS

When you've been watching Darnold and Mayfield struggling to do the same, yes, it's something to be excited about.

Young is one smart guy Question to Frank Reich: What’s the one moment, the one thing, that clinched your conviction that Bryce Young should be the first pick in the draft? Thinking. Thinking. “It happened on his 30 visit,” Reich said, referring to one of the 30 visits by prospects to team facilities that each team is allowed to host. Young was at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on April 11, talking deep football with Reich, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown and QB coach Josh McCown. They were talking protections—how a quarterback manages and changes blocking calls at the line of scrimmage. Young and the coaches were talking about a play they’d seen in their scouting process. It happened in garbage time during Young’s true freshman year, in his second college game. Alabama at Tennessee, Oct. 24, 2020, 10 months to the weekend that Young had been playing high school ball in Santa Ana, Calif. This third-and-six call from the ‘Bama 38 was the 10th called pass play of Bryce Young’s college career. He was 19 years, 3 months old. You can watch the play right here, first from the sideline angle, then from the endzone view: Video Player https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2023/05/RPReplay_Final1683236617.mp4?_=1 00:00 00:16 Video Player https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2023/05/RPReplay_Final1683236650.mp4?_=2 On the surface, it’s nothing special—a 12-yard third-down conversion pass to John Metchie with Alabama up 48-17. Certainly no one in attendance would remember the play. You know who’d remember it? Coaches who were looking for clues to judge Young’s mastery of his offense, and something no fan would notice but lifetime football people certainly would. Young was in shotgun at the snap, with running back Najee Harris snug to his right. Tennessee had four potential rushers to the left of center and only one to the right. As Young prepared to snap, a fifth Vol pass-rusher snuck to the line outside the left tackle. Young called out an adjustment. Center Landon Dickerson pointed left while Young said something to Harris to his right. Then the right guard pointed to his left. Then, at the last second, a Tennessee safety sprinted toward the line over the right tackle. Snap. The right tackle paused, then teamed with the right guard to move left and block the rusher up the middle. Dickerson handled the defensive tackle. A Tennessee blitzer blasted through the B gap—but Harris was there to neutralize him. Alex Leatherwood, the left tackle, pushed the wide blitzer out of the pocket. Young waited for Metchie to get to the top of his 12-yard stop route. As the receiver turned, the ball was right on him. First down. Gain of 12. Young was not touched. “Bryce right there called a five-man slide, which is an incredibly smart and incredibly risky call,” Reich said, watching the play while dictating a voice note to me. “If you’re going to call a five-man slide, you have to be 100 percent sure you can bring that [right] tackle over. Because if you bring him and that [left defensive] end comes, you’re in trouble. And just watch the play—how smooth the call is, how sure he is. He saw overload pressure to his left, he figured he wasn’t getting pressure to his right, he had the line all move left to compensate—and he even got the back to cover a blitzer. Just look how easy he made it look. “That play just confirmed everything we were thinking and already know. Just confirmed the level of football IQ he has that’s on par with Peyton [Manning], [Matt] Ryan, [Philip] Rivers, [Andrew] Luck. I’m telling you: There are quarterbacks in the NFL who haven’t done what he did right there—and he did it easily in his true freshman year in college. To have the confidence to make that call for Alabama in his second college game. Unreal.” This play, showing this knowledge of the game, is one reason there is no doubt in my mind that Young will begin the season as Carolina’s starting quarterback. The Panthers might have Andy Dalton number one on the depth chart today, but Dalton’s the definition of placeholder. I don’t know if Young will succeed, or if the huge size disadvantage will catch up to him. But from this play and from everything I’ve heard and seen, the game will not be too big for Young. The 10th pass of his 949-pass college career showed the Carolina coaches that.

Purdy is already ahead of him in reading defenses and performing under pressure.

This. I know we all have PTSD from Rhule but we need to let the new coaching staff do its thing

Fair and I fully expect that Bryce will get the reps with the starters in camp

This is not the same thing, just stop it

If he said Bryce is QB1 without throwing a pass in camp, or playing in a preseason game, or learning the playbook we would all be disappointed. Even with Cam, he had to earn it in Camp and preseason. This is how it should be stop worrying about every little thing

Basically like Trent Dilfer from Ravens 2000 team

Why is everything love or hate. I'm just calling it like I see it, I wish him the best.

No, he played like a legitimate backup and put up backup like numbers. He can't be relied on to carry the team but surrounded by all the talent, he'll have a decent season. I just don't think it's good enough for the 49ers, they want to be a SuperBowl contender and Darnold can't be counted on for that.

I'm not rooting against him I'm just not buying it. He won't have more success than Purdy or Garoppolo because he just doesn't have it mentally.

Everyone thinks they can fix Darnold. He does throw a nice ball, but unfortunately often to the other team or over the head of the receiver. This is like when some women fall in love with bad boys thinking they'll be the ones to reclaim them and make them husband material again. Darnold is who he is. He has limited processing ability (probably scored an 18 on the S2 test), no composure under pressure, can't throw receiver open to save his life.

Why wait?

ha! I just noticed that, sorry

Why have we not signed anyone yet?

You never know on the huddle lol

hahaha imagine

Drew Brees did it more than we think

I doubt that would be good for his balance, good way to roll your ankle.

That was the most magical and improbable season. The 4th down game winning TD pass to Ricky Proehl will always be etched in my memory.

Is it too late to start HGH therapy?

He's going to take hits, no matter what, it's the NFL. .. you just want to minimize probabilities by giving him an offensive line, a great scheme, good weapons etc. Adding weight to be able to absorb hits, when they happen, is important.

Right? In the past, the focus was usually on the tackles and protecting the blind side. But for shorter QBs like Young, who have the ability to step up in the pocket, I thin it may be more important to prevent the inside rush.

The Panthers made quarterback Bryce Young the first overall pick in the 2023 draft despite the fact that he has non-prototypical height and weight. In a recent interview with #PFTPM, Panthers G.M. Scott Fitterer addressed the extent to which Young’s size impacted their analysis of him, and their plans for him. “I think it’s something I’ve learned from [G.M.] John Schneider in Seattle,” Fitterer said regarding Young’s height. “What are the compensating factors? John went through that when he was looking at Russell [Wilson]. The one thing you said, ‘How’s his height going to affect him?’ Everyone was talking about, ‘He’s five-ten’. OK, what are the limitations here? “Usually on a shorter quarterback, that’s being able to throw over the middle of the field for the first eight to 10 yards. One thing about Bryce is he can see over the middle of the field. We did the heat map with him where a lot of his completions were right over the middle of the field. Guys who are six-three, six-four, getting balls batted down, throwing over the middle, lower completion rate. The one thing about Bryce, he had a really high completion rate. He only had two batted balls and then you’re like, ‘OK, this guy understands how to slide in the pocket, how to find the windows and the throwing lanes.’ There’s a real art to that and he makes it look so easy. . . . They’re very subtle movements. He’s finding that lane, he’s throwing the ball. We didn’t think the height would be a factor with him. It was something we definitely studied, and you have to study it because it’s a real thing, but he does have those compensating factors.” Although height can’t be added, weight can. Fitterer believes that, in time, it will come. “Again, that’s another something that we really talked about,” Bitterer said. “How’s he gonna hold up? You do study guys like Tua [Tagovailoa] or other players. We can build up his body. One thing coming from Alabama, they have all the resources. He’s coming from a program that has all the resources. “But we do think as his body matures, he will add mass. We will get him on a strength program that will bulk him up. I think the rules now in the NFL where you can’t land on quarterbacks with the body weight, that plays into it.” Another strategy for helping a smaller guy is to ensure the smaller guy doesn’t get hit as much. “The one thing about Bryce, he does get rid of the ball a lot of times before he takes a hit,” Fitterer said. “He’s not a guy that’s going to stand in the pocket and hold onto the ball for four seconds when that ball should be out at three. He will avoid some of those hits. He’s very elusive in the pocket. There’s a way that we are going to plan. There’s things we’re asking him to do like, ‘Hey, just throw the ball away, live to fight another day. You don’t need to stand in the pocket for the last second on this second-down play. Let’s just get the third-down and not take that unnecessary hit.’” Fitterer also said the Panthers are focused on improving the interior of their offensive line, in order to prevent the disruption that can happen up the middle, especially with a shorter quarterback. “If we can build it really stout up the middle, we think that’ll also help Bryce,” Fitterer said. It’s good that they have a plan. The challenge now becomes making it work. It’s a calculated risk. The reward could be significant. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/05/04/scott-fitterer-details-panthers-plans-for-dealing-with-bryce-youngs-height-weight/

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