Bryce Young was picked No. 1 overall just over a week ago, but that hardly means he’s going to start the first game of the 2023/24 season for the Carolina Panthers, according to the Carolina Panthers.
Scott Fitterer, the team’s general manager, revealed the former Alabama star is likely to play behind Andy Dalton next term, at least at the beginning.
“We went out and signed Andy Dalton for a reason,” Fitterer said this week, per ProFootballTalk.com. “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.”
The GM implied that Young might not be ready to become the guy for the Panthers, with Dalton having already received the starter’s blessing from head coach Frank Reich.
“When Bryce is ready or Matt Corral is ready whoever it may be, that’ll be the time they go in,” he added. “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.”
The social media reactions went just the way you would expect. You could take a look at some of them right below:
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It appears the Panthers are keen on following the Chicago Bears’ model, having taken the No. 1 overall pick from them. Dalton kept the seat warm for Justin Fields in Chicago in 2021 and is now set to do the same for Young, unless the latter does something to change his coach’s mind before the start of the campaign.
