You could hardly turn on the TV during the Carolina Panthers’ bye week without seeing Bryce Young. He was the guest picker alongside Nick Saban on ESPN’s “College GameDay” from Tuscaloosa, Ala. He followed that with an appearance on the “ManningCast” during the second quarter of the Atlanta Falcons-Baltimore Ravens matchup on “Monday Night Football.”
Some of football’s biggest personalities on the sport’s biggest platforms wanted time with a player who’s become a top-5 quarterback by stepping up his game in his fourth season, with the help of a first-year play caller.
The 25-year-old quarterback has made distinct changes in his play style and has helped the Panthers (2-2) move into first place in the NFC South. Heading into the Week 6 games, Young is third in the NFL in passing yards per game (317.0), third in completions of 25 yards or longer (13) and tied for fourth in passing touchdowns a game (2.25).
Young, drafted first overall in 2023, has passed for at least 280 yards and a touchdown in each of the Panthers’ four games. That’s the longest such streak to start a season since 2013 when Drew Brees had 280-plus yards and a TD in the New Orleans Saints’ first five games and Peyton Manning reached those numbers in the first 10 games for the Denver Broncos.
Offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, who succeeded head coach Dave Canales’ as the Panthers’ play caller this year, is putting the ball in Young’s hands. Carolina leads the league in cook rate, which measures how often a team passes in neutral situations.
The Panthers rank second behind the Los Angeles Rams in passing offense (301.3 passing ypg) and are third in total offense (405.8 ypg), trailing only the Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Athletic broke down the film to learn how and where Young and the Panthers’ offense are excelling.
The Panthers had their most complete offensive game in a 32-26 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 4. With Idzik utilizing a lot of the run/pass options (RPOs) that Young ran at Alabama and the Panthers have had in the playbook since Canales arrived in 2024, Young threw for 329 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Tetairoa McMillan had a career night with 14 receptions for 192 yards and two TDs and Chuba Hubbard ran for 122 yards and two scores.
Though outside stat keepers will mark these RPOs as passes when Young chooses the pass option of these plays, teams that call them will count them as runs.
“We’ve been running them for 2 1/2 years. … So it wasn’t really an emphasis that we said, ‘Hey, it’s this week guys, we’re really gonna (emphasize RPO).’ It’s always been a part of what we’ve done, throwing different combinations on some of our runs,” Canales said. “Giving (Young) the option to throw the ball in seams, to the flat, different things like that. But I told Brad, ‘Stomp the puddle out till there’s no water left.’ It’s a fun part when those things come alive.”
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