It was just one drive against the second string of the Buffalo Bills, but it was enough to suggest second-year Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is headed in the right direction after a historically bad rookie season.
Young completed 6 of 8 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown, an 8-yarder over the middle to converted tight end Jordan Matthews, in Saturday’s 31-26 victory over the Bills at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.
It was Young’s first and only appearance in a preseason game, one that first-year coach Dave Canales felt was strong enough to reportedly greet the top pick of the 2023 draft with “Hell of a day” as Young entered the locker room.
Canales later said the former Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama looked “sharp” on the 12-play, 85-yard drive.
“Couldn’t have dreamt it better,” Canales said. “A fourth-down conversion in there, but saw him extend plays with his legs, keeping his eyes down the field, finding guys.”
The fourth-down play in particular showcased how Young has developed under Canales, who in 2023 helped Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield have a career season and before that helped Geno Smith and Russell Wilson to career seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.
It was fourth-and-3 from the Buffalo 46 when Young took the shotgun snap from rookie center Andrew Raym, who was forced into a starting role because Austin Corbett was back in Charlotte for the delivery of his son, Cooper John Corbett (10 pounds, 4 ounces).
Young went through his first progressions, then saw pressure coming, so the right-hander began fading to his left. He avoided one tackler and lofted a cross-body throw to former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson, his favorite target during training camp, for a 17-yard gain.
“Poise, eyes down the field, that aggressive nature but being able to do it within the confines of what’s the smartest thing to do in this situation,” Canales said.
Young followed that with a 21-yard completion to veteran receiver Adam Thielen.
Two incompletions later, on third-and-goal from the 8, Young stepped up in the pocket and found Matthews, a former wide receiver, wide open in the middle for the touchdown.
Young’s passer rating of 140.6, albeit against backups, was a positive sign after he had the worst rating (73.3) in the NFL a year ago, ranked ahead of only one quarterback in QBR at 33.4 and threw 11 touchdown passes, tied for the fewest of any signal-caller in a season with at least 500 attempts in league history.
“It felt great for all of us to go out and play against a different team,” Young said. “We got a couple of different situations we got to have, which was great for us.”
Young’s drive illustrated many of the reasons Canales’ offense is a good fit for him. He opened with a play-action pass in which he reversed his field and hit Matthews for 8 yards.
He followed that with a 13-yard pass to rookie tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders.
Canales then leaned on the running game for three straight carries to take pressure off the passing game. Young was sacked on the next play, but it was for zero yards because the 5-foot-10 quarterback was able to avoid two defenders and a much bigger loss.
That set up the fourth-down play that had a big role in Young getting the “Hell of a day” from Canales.
Young’s play and the performance of the offense that was among the worst in the NFL a year ago was a microcosm of what Canales has liked in practice.
“You can see carryover from practice to the game of people creating space to play after the play,” Canales said. “Those are things that are so critical for us.”
