2023 No. 1 Pick Bryce Young Benched by Panthers; Andy Dalton to Start vs. Raiders

The Carolina Panthers benched 2023 No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Bryce Young, in favor of Andy Dalton.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network first reported the news:

Adam Schefter of ESPN added:

The news doesn't come as a major surprise—the Panthers are 0-2, and Young has thrown for just 245 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions while taking six sacks and completing just 55.4 percent of his passes.

There were two major reactions to the news.

The first was that, given Young's struggles, the Panthers didn't have much of a choice and some time on the sidelines might be the best thing for the young player's development:

The second was that the Panthers, as an organization, are an absolute mess, and the decision to bench Young is the end result of a long history of poor decisions in the David Tepper era (which includes trading two first-round picks, two second-rounders and DJ Moore to the Chicago Bears in exchange for the top overall pick in 2023, which was used to select Young rather than C.J. Stroud):

The timing of the move was all the more surprising given the comments made by head coach Dave Canales on Sunday.

"Bryce is our quarterback," he told reporters. "We're going to continue to shore and fix the things we need to fundamentally, from a scheme standpoint, all those things.''

Young's teammates also had his back publicly.

"I love that kid," veteran wideout Adam Thielen told reporters. "He works his butt off. It's too early in the season to be talking about all that. We need to be better around him, to give him confidence and trust in what we're doing."

"No doubt, no question," wideout Diontae Johnson added when asked if Young gave the Panthers the best chance to win.

Instead, Canales, general manager Dan Morgan and executive vice president Brandt Tillis decided after Sunday that 36-year-old Andy Dalton is the best option for the time being. If Young can rebuild his confidence while sitting behind him, Monday's decision may ultimately be nothing more than a rough patch for the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner.

But it's also possible that the Young era in Carolina has now come to a close.