The Texans HAVE to draft Bryce Young

zeeshan2 · Dec 7, 2023

After interviewing nine candidates, Tepper decided on Frank Reich, the former Indianapolis Colts coach and the starting quarterback for the first game in Panthers history. Tepper, with a net worth north of $20 billion, gave Reich a four-year deal and provided him the resources to hire an all-star staff that would help develop a rookie quarterback.

But halfway through Reich’s first season, Tepper already was contemplating another coaching change.

With No. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Young struggling and the Panthers owning the league’s worst record, Tepper warned Reich in early November he needed to see improvement on offense. Tepper had mortgaged the team’s future to move up to draft Young. The rookie’s development was stagnating under an avalanche of sacks and hits in the pocket.

The offensive problems and Young’s development doomed Reich. But there was a lot going on behind the scenes on Reich’s staff.

The Athletic spoke to more than 20 Panthers coaches, players and other league sources, some of whom were granted anonymity so they could speak freely. They painted a picture of dysfunction inside the Panthers’ offices, with assistant coaches undermining other coaches as many went into self-preservation mode when it became clear Reich’s days were numbered.

Team sources described a “Hunger Games” culture at Bank of America Stadium. Coaches said they believed other staff members were text messaging Tepper behind Reich’s back about issues they saw with the team. In one instance, general manager Scott Fitterer and an offensive coach went to Tepper with a coaching suggestion for the quarterback.

“People just finger-pointing hoping they don’t get exposed,” said one assistant.

Days before Thanksgiving, with the team spiraling and Young getting pummeled, Tepper told Reich to fix the rookie’s footwork. Fitterer and others had told Tepper that Young’s feet were the cause of some of the Panthers’ protection issues. They believed Young wasn’t dropping back deep enough on his pass sets.

Tepper has been criticized for micromanaging and getting hands-on with football decisions. Prior to the 2019 season, he persuaded then-head coach Ron Rivera to switch to a 3-4 defense — which Tepper was familiar with as a former Pittsburgh Steelers minority partner — and drove the team’s interest in Deshaun Watson before the quarterback was traded to Cleveland in 2022.

Tepper’s instruction about Young’s footwork came after weekly conversations between Tepper and Reich on Young’s development and early struggles.

League sources said Tepper struggled with the decision to fire Reich. But the combination of Young’s difficulty understanding Reich’s offense, specifically the reads, timing and ball placement, as well as Young’s lack of protection, convinced the owner the organization wasn’t helping its quarterback, but ruining him.

Some in Carolina thought Reich and McCown weren’t tough enough on Young as the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner from Alabama got off to a bumpy start.

Reich, Fitterer and the offensive coaches decided the priority before Young’s first season was preparing him to call plays in the huddle for the first time and giving him time to absorb a playbook that blended Reich’s system with wide zone concepts Brown bought from the Los Angeles Rams. Any tweaks or changes the Panthers wanted to make to Young’s mechanics would wait until the offseason.

But Young has been taking a beating. He’s been sacked 44 times and is on pace to finish with 64, which would be the fourth-highest total in NFL history. Some in the organization believed inconsistent depth on his dropbacks was at least part of the issue for the 5-foot-10 quarterback.

After Tepper delivered the message to do something about it, McCown began working with Young on his footwork before the Panthers’ Week 12 game at Tennessee — three months into the season. Veteran backup quarterback Andy Dalton said Young’s dropbacks were among the teaching points during the Panthers’ Thanksgiving week practices.

“Footwork’s a part of playing this game. And it’s not changing his footwork,” Dalton said. “I think it’s just an emphasis on just keeping it consistent. I went through it, too. On certain throws, you want your footwork to look similar and all that kind of stuff. So I think it’s just more of an emphasis on that.”

One source said he didn’t notice much change in Young’s dropbacks against the Titans, who had four sacks and six hits on Young in a 17-10 loss that dropped the Panthers to a league-worst 1-10. As he left the visitors locker room in Nashville, a visibly irritated Tepper shook his head and yelled, “F—!”

But many in league circles — including talent evaluators with other teams — question whether Fitterer surrounded Young with enough playmakers after the GM sent No. 1 receiver DJ Moore to Chicago as part of the deal for the first pick. The Panthers are 13-33 since Fitterer arrived in 2021, a .283 winning percentage that is tied with the Bears for the worst mark over that span. Fitterer has been given no assurances about his future in Charlotte, according to a league source.

But that has not been the case on the offensive side. At one point, several coaches wanted to bench Young in favor of Dalton, who had the Panthers’ only 300-yard passing game when Young missed the Week 3 game at Seattle with an ankle injury. But those conversations never reached Reich, Fitterer or ownership, according to high-ranking team sources.

Other coaches felt they couldn’t voice their opinions without being viewed as malcontents.

Several sources said Reich would call out Young for mistakes during team-wide film reviews — as he did other players — early in the season but backed off in recent weeks, with Young’s confidence in mind.

“You can coach a player hard,” said one staffer, “without killing his spirit.”

But one player said it wasn’t Reich’s nature or coaching style to be overly critical of any player or position group.

Reich experimented in training camp with putting Young under center, which Young did infrequently in college. Some concepts that might have helped negate an opponent’s pass rush, including play-action passes, are more effective when the quarterback is under center. But when the season started, Reich — Jim Kelly’s backup in the Bills’ K-Gun offenses during the 1990s — had Young lined up in pistol and shotgun sets almost exclusively.

With Brown back calling plays Sunday in a 21-18 loss at Tampa Bay, Young was under center for seven of the Panthers’ 13 first-quarter plays. But the familiar issues soon resurfaced; Young was sacked four times and threw an interception on his final pass to end any comeback hopes.

Reich’s efforts to boost Young’s confidence — some players viewed as overprotectiveness — continued through what turned out to be Reich’s final offensive play with the Panthers at Tennessee. Trailing by 7 and facing a fourth-and-6 at the two-minute warning, Young saw the Titans line up in what he believed to be Cover 0 — man coverage with no deep defender — and checked to a wide receiver screen to DJ Chark.

Chark caught the ball four yards behind the line of scrimmage and was tackled for no gain by safety Amani Hooker, allowing the Titans to reclaim possession and run out the clock. After the game, Reich said it was the right check by Young and that Chark might have gotten too far behind the line of scrimmage. A clearly agitated Chark insisted the Titans were not in Cover 0 and the Panthers should have stuck with the original play call.

A former NFL head coach agreed, saying the Titans fooled Young into thinking they were in Cover 0 before dropping their backside safety to the post area.
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https://theathletic.com/5105215/2023/12/06/carolina-panthers-frank-reich-firing-david-tepper/

texans1095 · Dec 7, 2023

Reading through that piece on Carolina by the Athletic, it's pretty damning. This is a much bigger issue than Reich or some personnel or play calling. Unless Tepper sells the team (not gonna happen) or miraculously decides to stop meddling (also not gonna happen) the Panthers will stay bad for a long time and Young won't develop.

EDIT: Double post

texans1095 · Dec 7, 2023

EDIT: Double Post

Buck Turgidson · Dec 7, 2023

RunninRaven said: ↑

Fortunately the more Tepper meddles the more he'll get a reputation for it and the young, promising future head coaches won't want any part of that franchise.
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If I'm Slowik, there's no way I'm setting myself up for failure in Carolina when he can coach Stroud and an up-an-coming Texans team for another year or 2 or however long he wants and then, if all goes according to plan, have basically his pick of jobs.

percicles · Dec 7, 2023

From that Atlantic article it seems like an impetus owner hired a mid head coach/staff and drafted a 2nd round QB talent that needed at least an nfl redshirt year or two to develop.

Scarface281 · Dec 7, 2023

percicles said: ↑

From that Atlantic article it seems like an impetus owner hired a mid head coach/staff and drafted a 2nd round QB talent that needed at least an nfl redshirt year or two to develop.
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and then ownership got upset Young was developing fast enough (like in a week lol) so they fired the coach for it. article is pretty scathing on Tepper but also on Young. his teammates are tired of being blamed for his struggles. ouch

zeeshan2 · Dec 10, 2023

Verbal Christ · Dec 11, 2023

They say that no QB would have success on the Panthers then why did Andy Dalton shine on the road Sep 24 vs the Seahawks?

zeeshan2 · Dec 18, 2023

ApacheWarrior · Dec 18, 2023

Glad the Texans didn't listen to those that pushed for Bryce Young

Reminds me of those that pushed for Scoot....told me he was better than KPj on the court day one

KingCheetah · Dec 18, 2023

ApacheWarrior said: ↑

Glad the Texans didn't listen to those that pushed for Bryce Young
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Why?

Shroopy2 · Dec 18, 2023

Texans doesnt has to be doing NUTHIN, alright?

ApacheWarrior · Dec 18, 2023

KingCheetah said: ↑

Why?
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Because he looks like a kid out there, Cheetah

You know how I dislike point guards under 6'3"......well I dislike quarterbacks
under 6'3" even less.

Yordan The Great · Dec 22, 2023

Two Sandwiches said: ↑

There's no way around it.

Forget the Drew Brees comps. That's who I was comparing him to even recently. His best comp is Mahomes or a better version of this year's Tua. Laugh all you want. If the guy was 6'3" or taller, he'd be a generational quarterback prospect. No way around it.

This franchise is dead in the water. It needs a shot in the arm. Forget who is coming out next year or in two years. Those guys may end up going the Spencer Rattler route. You've got to make your move now to maximize the Watson haul.

If Young pans out, and those other guys are still good, we can turn next year's two first into potentially three or four by trading back, if we're bad enough. Problem is, if you take a wide receiver with your second first round pick, we may not be bad enough to to have a high pick.

Young is possibly the best quarterback we will get a shot at. Dude is good. He's accurate on the run, he is slippery, he's got enough arm, great vision, unquestioned character, everything you want. He has great chemistry with Metchie, to boot.

This franchise is in such a desperate palace, and such a dumpster fire, ownership will reach for anything they can to be relevant. Young is it. He's got too 5 potential if he can stay healthy.

Yes, size is an issue. He is what he is, though, and what he is, is a great football quarterback. Aside from the injury this year, he's been a durable quarterback. He knows when to slide and how to slide. You've got to take the gamble.

I could go on and on. Fact of the matter is, there's no other choice. Don't overlook something because of potential. Prepare yourselves, folks.

I'll shut up and leave a video clip from his Heisman season, showing you some of his chemistry with Metchie (#8):

Yes, this deserves its own thread. It's about the one and only quarterback worthy of number one. There's no other choice. Trying to get people excited about our future franchise here.
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Ouch

Marshall Bryant · Dec 23, 2023

Buck Turgidson said: ↑

If I'm Slowik, there's no way I'm setting myself up for failure in Carolina when he can coach Stroud and an up-an-coming Texans team for another year or 2 or however long he wants and then, if all goes according to plan, have basically his pick of jobs.
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I agree, but he'll interview just for the experience. Then he'll be prepared for the job he's really after later. It would be best if he turns down an offer before taking one to maximize his demand and salary.

Marshall Bryant · Dec 23, 2023

I wonder if they'll trade Bryce for Mills straight up? C J could use a backup and let Keenum return to the QB mentor role. He appears to be very good at it.

percicles · Dec 31, 2023

Bro I would be on the floor Tua style counting the dollar settlement I’d get from the NFL and angry Tepper.

Fulgore · Dec 31, 2023

Carolina drafted Greg Oden

astrosrule · Dec 31, 2023

Fulgore said: ↑

Carolina drafted Greg Oden
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Oden was great, just got injured. Bryce looks like he just sucks (i get the kd = stroud reference though)

mario_v · Dec 31, 2023

I know Young has been bad, but even bad qbs like DeVito or browning had a couple of good games.

If you’re a panthers fans, Bryce hasn’t shown anything to be excited about. He’s looking like a flat out bust.

Texans really dodged a bullet.

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