The Carolina Panthers selected Alabama quarterback Bryce Young with the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, then posted a 2-14 record in the games started by the rookie QB.
But that hasn’t changed the evaluation of Young for Carolina offensive coordinator Brad Idzik.
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“Obviously, a winner,” Idzik said last week. “You look at a guy, he finds a way to win. His arm talent is phenomenal. He makes great professional throws all over the field at the short, intermediate and down the field, as well. But he’s a winner, and that’s something you can’t truly quantify all the time, and we’re really excited to have him here. We’re really excited to watch his progress this offseason alongside his teammates.”
Idzik was not Young’s offensive coordinator during the quarterback’s rookie season.
Carolina fired head coach Frank Reich 11 games into the 2023 season. After special-teams coordinator Chris Tabor held the reins for the rest of the campaign, the Panthers hired Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales as the head coach and cleaned house on the offensive side of the coaching staff.
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Idzik worked with Canales as Tampa Bay’s wide-receivers coach, their fifth season together. While Idzik is Carolina’s offensive coordinator, Canales will call the plays for the Panthers.
Idzik said in reviewing Carolina’s 2023 season, he looked more at what went right than what went wrong to give him a better idea of how to put Young in position to succeed.
“We really focused on the positives,” Idzik said. “We went back. We studied last season, but we saw what he did throw and we’re, just like we mentioned: Where do you want to take this team X’s and O’s-wise? It’s: Where do you want to take your quarterback and what does he show immediately that he’s willing to sit back there and rip? And then as he shows us on the field here this offseason, we’ll continue to build on the fundamentals.
“Will Harriger, one of the most prepared quarterbacks coaches you’ll ever come across, has examples of everything, and he’s showing it to him on the daily, and I can’t wait to watch him get his hands dirty with him on the field just honing in on all the fundamentals, the footwork and then just being on time with the wideouts.”
Because they had the worst record in the NFL in the 2023 season, the Panthers held the first choice in this week’s NFL Draft. But Carolina parted with that pick last year to move up to No. 1 so it could acquire Young.
The Panthers have seven selections in this year’s draft, starting with the first pick of the second round on Friday and two more second-day picks at No. 39 and No. 65. Carolina will kick off Saturday’s third day of the draft with the 101st choice and finish by choosing at No. 141, No. 142 and No. 240 in the 257-pick event.
“It’s not about surrounding Bryce with great players,” Canales said on Thursday when addressing the draft. “It’s about building a great team, and Bryce can just do his part of it. That’s my goal. That’s my heart for this whole thing. I want him to be able to feel like he can just come and do his one-eleventh. If he can just do his part – you look at the great teams he was a part of at Alabama, he won a lot of games when they had a good offense, a good defense. He did his part, and he played big in big moments. And I would love to create that here, so he can just do that part of it and not make it about him.”
The Panthers began their offseason program on April 9.
“You look at the film, and he put plenty on tape to show you that this is the guy we thought he was,” Idzik said of Young. “But as far as who we see now, we’re in the classroom right now, so we’re really excited to just see that professionalism that he brings to the table, the why he won so much throughout every step of his career. We’re excited to build on that and watch him progress as we get the chance to hit the field with him and watch him take this team and lead it.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.