Former NFL QB rips Panthers for handling of Bryce Young as rookie

The benching of quarterback Bryce Young earlier this week resulted in some members of the NFL community blasting the Carolina Panthers for how they've handled the first pick of the 2023 NFL Draft over the past year and a half. 

On the latest edition of the "Throwbacks" podcast, former NFL signal-caller and current analyst Matt Leinart ripped the Panthers for playing Young as a rookie. 

"It drives me crazy the need and the desire to throw these kids out there," Leinart explained, as shared by NBC Montana and other outlets. "In [Young's] instance, like, you don't have a supporting cast. You have a terrible offensive line. You have a new system. He needs all the reps he can get. I throw him in there in preseason, get him all the reps, get him hit a little bit and just get a feel for the system. I think this was an organizational failure by the Carolina Panthers. I really believe that." 

While then-Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer admitted shortly after the 2023 draft that Carolina still needed to bolster the interior of its offensive line, it soon became clear that the plan was always for Young to be a Week 1 rookie starter. Young struggled throughout a rough debut pro season that included the firing of head coach Frank Reich in late November, and Fitterer was dismissed following the campaign. 

Future Hall of Famer Tom Brady generated headlines in August when he said he thought it was "just a tragedy that we’re forcing these rookies to play early" instead of letting young quarterbacks first develop "at a higher level." Leinart seemed to agree with Brady's take. 

"These players aren't developed anymore at the collegiate level," Leinart added. "When you're watching a game, how much do you see the quarterback look to the sideline for a play? All the time, right? All the time. ... There are very few offenses that require a quarterback to have to get into checks and reads and progress and all of these things. It just doesn't happen to the point where you need it to happen in the NFL." 

Leinart thinks veteran Andy Dalton, who has been Young's teammate/mentor since 2023 and is currently Carolina's starter, is "a great person to learn from" and could help the 23-year-old complete a needed "reboot" as a QB2. That's all well and good, but it certainly seems like Young will want to move on from the Panthers sooner rather than later even though some teams reportedly won't be interested in acquiring him due to his poor play since September 2023 and the fact that he won't grow any taller as a pro.