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2023 NFL Offensive Player Rankings, Week 13: How Panthers can salvage Bryce Young’s rookie season

Coming into the 2023 NFL season, I had high hopes for what the Carolina Panthers might do with first overall pick Bryce Young, especially under Frank Reich’s tutelage. Now, 12 weeks into the quarterback’s rookie season, the organization has fired Reich and a pair of offensive assistants — QBs coach Josh McCown and assistant HC/RBs coach Duce Staley — after winning only one game in the first three months.

The win-loss record stands out, of course, but so does the lack of offensive production. The Panthers offense points (15.7, 29th), total yards per game (265.9, 30th), pass yards per game (173.3, 30th), rush yards per game (92.6, 28th), and sacks allowed (43, 29th) are among the lowest five in the league. Despite having a poor offensive line, Young has had difficulty throwing nine touchdowns to eight interceptions and has been sacked forty times in his ten games. Chris Tabor, the team’s temporary head coach and former special teams coordinator, has taken over as the team’s new owner after owner David Tepper passed away. OC Thomas Brown, who will return to play-calling, has a special advisor in senior assistant Jim Caldwell. Now is the moment to see if the Panthers can save the season for the rookie quarterback.

The unfortunate truth in Carolina is that the offense lacks quality, with a meager arsenal of pass-catchers and a patchy run game. Young doesn’t have many resources at his disposal and is being asked to accomplish a lot of tasks. The emphasis should be on Young’s development, and the Panthers need to give him a little more freedom if they want him to be their starting quarterback in the long run, as Tipper has stated they do.

In 2002, during my rookie season with the Texans, I found myself in a similar circumstance. I had a lot on my plate, and to be honest, we were having trouble offensively because I was having so much trouble finding protections.

at the line of scrimmage. There is a lot to know: What’s the coverage? Who is the defense’s free rusher? Who is my safety net in case I make it through my progressions without a place to release myself? Everything began to make a little more sense to me after I began to comprehend these concepts on a play-by-play basis, which didn’t happen until after my rookie season. Jalen Hurts of the Eagles is one player who is now doing this perhaps better than any other quarterback in the league. He never acts hurriedly or fearfully. Even though he is playing behind a superb offensive line, he is aware of his outlets and knows when to gain some ground with his legs in order to advance even if his first, second, or third options aren’t available.

During his time in college, Young shown a command of Alabama’s system; however, this season in Carolina, that hasn’t happened. Once more, his supporting cast hasn’t been all that useful in that aspect. The one wide receiver the rookie can always rely on to be in the correct place is veteran Adam Thielen. But even as Young goes through his stages, he must be worried about his safety because he doesn’t know how long his defenses will last. The only player who has taken more sacks than Young this season is Sam Howell of the Commanders (55 to 40), and Howell has also participated in two more games than Young.

For the next six games of the season, there’s little sense in trying out new formations or reimagining this offense from scratch. Giving Young greater offensive responsibility is something I’d really like to see the Panthers accomplish. They can accomplish this by writing a screenplay for roughly ten plays and pounding home those ideas with a no-huddle or hurry-up method. The youthful signal-caller should be able to play quickly and easily in a less complex offense with fewer formations thanks to the.

Young’s development needs to be prioritized, and here’s one approach to help with that. Attempting something new will, at minimum, assist the Panthers in determining where Young is at and what circumstances work best for him.

Top 15 offensive player rankings

Each week in the 2023 campaign, former No. 1 overall pick and NFL Network analyst David Carr will take a look at all offensive players and rank his top 15. Rankings are based solely on this season’s efforts. The Week 13 pecking order is below.

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