Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales benched struggling quarterback Bryce Young Monday, mere hours after he appeared to give him a strong stamp of approval in a press conference.
Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, had a tough rookie year and ranks near or at the bottom of most NFL QB stats this season. The 0-2 Panthers have scored only 13 points.
So Canales’ decision to bench Young in favor of veteran backup Andy Dalton is fairly predictable, and welcomed by many fans. Yet the day before, Canales firmly told reporters he hadn’t considered making that move.
“Did you ever consider subbing in Andy Dalton for Bryce Young, given the offensive inefficiency?” a reporter asked after the Los Angeles Chargers hammered the Panthers, 26-3.
“Bryce is our quarterback, I’d love to see this thing just continue to take the next steps offensively right now,” Canales responded.
Just in case there was any confusion about the issue, another reporter asked, “Will he start next week?”
“Bryce is our quarterback, we’re just going to continue to shore up and fix the things we need to fundamentally, from a schemes standpoint,” Canales said. “These are all valuable reps, these are all valuable games, and we’ll learn a lot from this game and hopefully we’ll take another step this week.”
“Bryce is our quarterback” lasted for 21 hours pic.twitter.com/cgxacd1uTp
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) September 16, 2024
Canales said he made the decision after watching film Monday, and he didn’t discuss whether Panthers owner David Tepper, known as a very “hands-on” owner, had any say.
“I’m going to keep that private,” Canales said.
“I’m going to keep that private” … that’s Tepper code for “heavily involved” https://t.co/q3xwbYtk6N
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) September 16, 2024
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Canales made the call, along with GM Dan Morgan and executive VP Brandt Tillis.
The decision to bench former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young is said to have come from HC Dave Canales, GM Dan Morgan and EVP Brandt Tillis. As one source said, “Dave Canales’ first big-boy decision.” https://t.co/GO9i14Z7jC
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 16, 2024
The Pat McAfee Show discussed the topic shortly after the story broke and McAfee sounded skeptical Canales made the decision on his own.
“Maybe David Tepper just said this week, ‘Ah, f*** it, you guys done with it? I’m done with it. We’re moving on,'” McAfee joked. “This is massive breaking news, for a very young career of a No. 1 overall pick.”
BREAKING NEWS: Bryce Young has been benched by the Carolina Panthers..
Andy Dalton will now be the starting Quarterback#PMSLive #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/uCDshB1PGx
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 16, 2024
If Tepper did, in fact, order the move against Canales’ wishes, it would be just the latest unusual development in his tenure as team owner. He made news last season for throwing a drink on a fan during a game, and earlier this year he confronted a bar employee in an incident that went viral because of security camera footage.
