‘No timeline’ for rookie QB Bryce Young to start, says Panthers GM

The Carolina Panthers traded up to the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to select Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll be under center comes Week 1 of the 2023-24 season.

In fact, there’s no “timeline” for Young to play this fall, and veteran signal-caller Andy Dalton is the team’s current starter, according to Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer.

“We’re going to rely on our coaches — Jim Caldwell, Frank Reich, Thomas Brown — to decide when it’s right,” Fitterer told ProFootballTalk. “We don’t have a timeline. We’re not saying, ‘Hey, this guy’s gonna start the first game,’ or, ‘We’re not going to play him at all this year.’ 

“When the time is right, or we felt like he’s got enough of a mastery of the offense where he can go out and operate this and be successful, that’s when he’ll be out there.”

Young, who won the 2021 Heisman Trophy, totaled 3,328 passing yards, 32 passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a 163.2 passer rating, while completing 64.5% of his passes last season for the Crimson Tide. He missed one game due to a shoulder injury and played through the injury in the second half of the season.

In the 27 games Young played in as a starter at Alabama, he won 24 of them. Young’s Tide won the 2021 SEC title en route to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. The 21-year-old holds a multitude of single-season records at Alabama, including the most passing yards (4,872) and most passing touchdowns (47), to name a few.

“We went out and signed Andy Dalton for a reason,” Fitterer added. “He played as a rookie. He’s got a lot of experience. He understands his role, and he can play good football. If Andy’s the guy to start the season, and he’s the starter right now heading into the season, then he’ll be the guy. When Bryce is ready or Matt Corral is ready — whoever it may be — that’ll be the time they go in. 

“We say it’s open competition, but Frank did say, ‘Hey, Andy’s he’s our guy right now.’ He’ll walk into the season as the starter and then as you know, the young guys compete underneath him, then they’ll go in when they’re ready.”

Dalton, 35, was the primary quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2011-19, which was followed by brief stints with the Dallas Cowboys, the Chicago Bears and the New Orleans Saints. The Panthers signed Dalton to a two-year, $10 million deal in March. Meanwhile, Carolina traded up to select former Ole Miss QB Corral with the 94th overall pick in the 2022 draft, but he missed all of his rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury.

Whoever ends up being the Panthers’ starter this season will be working with big names like wide receivers Adam Thielen and DJ Chark, running back Miles Sanders and tight end Hayden Hurst, which are among the Panthers’ offseason additions. 

Carolina traded the No. 9 and 61 picks in this year’s draft, a future first-round draft pick, a future second-rounder and wide receiver DJ Moore, who who logged 1,100-plus receiving yards in three of the last four seasons, to the Bears for the chance to select Young first overall. He was one of three quarterbacks taken with the top four picks in the draft, ahead of Ohio State‘s C.J. Stroud (No. 2 overall) and Florida‘s Anthony Richardson (No. 4).

The Panthers are coming off a 7-10 season and haven’t made the playoffs since 2017.

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