Panthers GM again addresses Bryce Young size concerns

Carolina Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer has again explained why size concerns didn't prevent him from selecting quarterback Bryce Young with the first pick of this year's draft. 

"One thing about Bryce is he can see over the middle of the field," Fitterer told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "We did the heat map with him where a lot of his completions were right over the middle of the field. Guys who are six-three, six-four, getting balls batted down, throwing over the middle, lower completion rate. The one thing about Bryce, he had a really high completion rate. He only had two batted balls and then you’re like, 'OK, this guy understands how to slide in the pocket, how to find the windows and the throwing lanes.'"

Young measured in at 5-foot-10 1/8 and weighed 204 pounds at the combine but then raised eyebrows when he declined to weigh in ahead of his pro day workout. Fitterer later brushed aside worries related to Young's height and overall build, and the executive said both at that time and to Florio this week that the 21-year-old can add positive mass before he takes his first meaningful snap as an NFL quarterback. 

Some have suggested Young will struggle to remain healthy while facing top-tier pro defenses over a dozen times per season, but Fitterer believes the signal-caller will do well to protect himself at the highest level.

"The one thing about Bryce, he does get rid of the ball a lot of times before he takes a hit," Fitterer noted. "He’s not a guy that’s going to stand in the pocket and hold onto the ball for four seconds when that ball should be out at three. He will avoid some of those hits. He’s very elusive in the pocket. There’s a way that we are going to plan. There’s things we’re asking him to do like, 'Hey, just throw the ball away, live to fight another day. You don’t need to stand in the pocket for the last second on this second-down play. Let’s just get the third-down (play) and not take that unnecessary hit.'" 

Fitterer acknowledged the Panthers still need to bolster the interior of their offensive line to keep Young upright during games. One wonders if the state of the team's line could cause Fitterer and head coach Frank Reich to start veteran Andy Dalton over the rookie for at least a portion of the upcoming season.