The footwork of Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was a somewhat touchy subject during his 2023 rookie campaign. But the new brains behind the new operation are trying to make sure it’s a non-issue in 2024
Kassidy Hill of Panthers.com recently took a deep dive into the coaching staff’s offseason work with the 22-year-old passer. And under the watch of first-year head coach Dave Canales, who has been installing his 2.7 seconds-or-less offense, Carolina is putting a sharp focus on Young’s feet and time of release
“Get the ball out, get the ball out. We’re going to be on a clock every single time this spring,” Canales said back at the NFL combine. “But for our concepts, if you kind of get more specific to what we’re trying to do, the ball gets to the check down in about 2.7, definitely under three. I’m really looking at that 3-second mark where Bryce better be moving towards the line of scrimmage ready to take off, checking it down to the back in 3 seconds or less.”
Part of Hill’s piece included a chat with new passing game coordinator Nathan Carroll, who worked alongside Canales with the Seattle Seahawks.
“We are focusing on getting his feet right and organizing the concepts that he gets to throw, so that he’s getting the ball out quickly,” Carroll told Hill. “Trying to be consistent with his footwork so that everything flows through from the ground up.”
Whether it was the constant pressure he faced or just the typical rookie growing pains, Young wasn’t awfully consistent in that department last season. He finished averaging just 179.8 passing yards per game with 11 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and 62 sacks.
So, maybe it’s no surprise that the Panthers are looking to make their offense much more comfortable for the No. 1 overall pick.
“We’re going to fit this offense to Bryce,” Carroll added. “Right now we’re in the process of teaching all of our concepts still. As we get closer through training camp and then finally in the season, we’ll finally get to our real offense and what we’re going to be with Bryce, and he’ll have input at times on certain things that he likes. And we’ll try to make the best out of what we have here and try to be as hard to stop on offense as possible.”
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