Bryce Young Gets Blunt Update on Panthers Future After Dave Canales’ Strong Demand

“Bryce is our quarterback. We’re going to continue to shore up and fix the things,” Coach Dave Canales said after the first two games last season. The QB had a disappointing rookie season, and he hadn’t shown much improvement, starting 0-2 in his second year. Has the picture begun to look the same in his third season? Unfortunately for the No. 1 overall draft pick, on whom the Panthers have invested heavily, the future appears bleak.

The Athletic’s Joseph Person, in his article, argued that the QB has repeated the same mistakes from the previous two years. “Year 3 for the No. 1 pick began just like the first two — with too many turnovers and not nearly enough plays to convince you that Young is the clear, long-term answer at quarterback,” Person wrote.

Bryce Young has led only a single touchdown drive across all three Week 1 games of his career, with the Panthers scoring just 10 points each time and suffering a combined 97-30 blowout. He further added, “With a three-turnover day against the Jaguars, here’s the ugly running score of Young in Week 1: seven turnovers, three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and three games with passer ratings of 49 or lower.”

So, not so surprisingly, experts and analysts have continued to scrutinize his early-season performances. While he showed some improvement at the end of last season by limiting turnovers, he seems to be back in old habits this year. Looking back, in 2024, he went 13 of 30 for 161 yards and two touchdowns in a 47-10 loss to the Saints. In 2023, he went 20 of 38 for 146 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in a 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

His performance against the Jaguars was of both promise and frustration. He completed 18 of 35 passes for 154 yards, including a touchdown to Chuba Hubbard. But he threw an interception into heavy traffic, lost a fumble after an awkward slide, and made a puzzling throw out of the back of the end zone on a fourth-and-1 from the 5-yard line, visibly slamming his helmet in frustration afterward. However, he did not blame Coach Canales’ play-calling. “Just something that was going on with not executing. When you’re not executing, it sucks. But I have to do a better job as a leader,”  Young said.

However, rest assured, it’s not done just yet. Like the past two years, Bryce Young still has a chance to step up. While he was certainly better than last season’s opener and showed more confidence in his throws, the question remains whether he can sustain that performance for the rest of the season. At least, Coach Canales has already declared his demand.

Coach Canales declares an ultimatum for the Panthers

Coach Canales made it clear that finishing plays and drives is a major focus for the Panthers. However, against the Jaguars, the team struggled in both areas. “Obviously not good enough. The turnovers. The explosive plays. I thought our tackling was not great. We had a couple plays that were stopped, essentially, for nothing. And we let them get through to the second level. I think anytime you have four turnovers in a game, you give an offense with a bunch of weapons more opportunities,” Canales said.

But the coach knows that he can’t dwell upon the loss. The team has to keep moving. “We gotta look at the tape. We gotta grow from this. We have to take care of the basic things that we’ve been working on. And just take a next step this week. But certainly disappointed in how we played today, especially with the things we emphasized,” he said.

Well, there were other issues apart from the QB. While the defense failed to stop Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, Hunter Renfrow and Xavier Legette combined to catch only five of 13 targets. So, the entire team must improve and step up. The Panthers have clear areas to fix, and how they respond in Week 2 will show if they can turn things around. Canales’ squad will face the Arizona Cardinals in their next matchup.