Panthers' Dave Canales addresses fixing Bryce Young

The Carolina Panthers officially introduced new head coach Dave Canales to the media on Thursday, and Canales spoke about getting quarterback Bryce Young on the right track following Young's rough rookie season. 

"There are certain challenges,'' Canales said about working with shorter signal-callers, as shared by David Newton of ESPN. "I'm not going to tell the whole NFC South what those advantages are. That's kind of a proprietary deal that we're going to own here. But I will say there are certain things you can do to help. There are ways to find what that quarterback is comfortable seeing.''

Canales worked with Russell Wilson (listed at 5-foot-11) as quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks before the 42-year-old helped Baker Mayfield (6-foot-1) become a Comeback Player of the Year candidate while serving as offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season. Young measured at 5-foot-10 1/8 at last year's scouting combine and, in the eyes of some, appeared too small to play the position at the highest level across his first 16 regular-season games. 

"Whether you're 5-11 or 6-1, you can't really see over any of the alignment,'' Canales explained. "So, there's an approach to it.''

According to ESPN stats, Young finished the 2023 regular season ranked 29th out of 30 qualified players with a 33.3 adjusted QBR. He was also 34th among qualified quarterbacks with a 73.7 passer rating, 34th with an average of 5.5 yards per pass attempt and 33rd with a 59.8% completion percentage. 

Per Newton, Young was 24th in the league with a 2.9-second release time. 

"In the pass game it's getting that ball out in 2.7 seconds or less," Canales pointed out. "That's a critical deal for me.''

Canales insisted that "we are going to become what Bryce is good at in the pass game. We are going to grow to the capacity that he can handle.''

It's important to remember that Canales had nothing to do with the Panthers making Young the first overall draft pick last spring, so the coach could look to distance himself from the quarterback if the 22-year-old fails to impress in a new-look offense this coming fall.