Panthers Owner Makes Awkward Admission About Bryce Young
Did Carolina even want Young?
It’s been an awkward season for Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, and Carolina owner David Tepper isn’t doing much to alleviate that feeling.
In fact, he took some time Tuesday to make it a lot worse.
In the seven months since Young was selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, things have seemed to exclusively trend downward. The on-field production has been bad, as the 22-year-old threw just nine touchdowns to his eight interceptions through 10 starts, in which he has just one victory.
The Panthers have done a lot of losing as Young continues to find his footing, but the latest loss seemed to be the final straw for Tepper, who fired head coach Frank Reich on Monday.
The decision to move on from Reich came after it was reported by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that Tepper, who has been notoriously involved since buying the Panthers in 2018, pushed for Carolina to draft Young.
“It’s believed in some league circles that the Panthers drafted Bryce Young because Tepper wanted him, and that the people who work for him are saying they did too, because they know what’s good for them,” Florio said.
Tepper chose to address that report Tuesday, while also admitting Carolina was originally fine with allowing someone else to draft Young so it could take C.J. Stroud.
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“It’s been reported, and we’ve talked about it, originally, we were going to go with the No. 2 pick, and we thought we’d get C.J. because we thought the Texans were going to pick Bryce,” Tepper said Tuesday, addressing media after firing Reich. “We preferred Bryce. He was our No. 1 pick.”
Tepper made sure to include that last part about preferring Young, but it’s not exactly the best look to say you were OK losing the player you took with the No. 1 pick. It’s also easy for the 66-year-old to say he would have taken Stroud, who is running away with the Offensive Rookie of the Year award this season.
In the end, the Panhers made a commitment to Young and are stuck with him for a while — whether they like it or not. It’s up to Tepper to find the right coach to develop his young quarterback into a viable starter, which hasn’t been his strong suit since buying the Panthers.
