This past January, veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen of the Carolina Panthers insisted that quarterback Bryce Young’s difficult rookie season would “benefit him in the long run.”
In a recent interview with “The Rich Eisen Show,” Thielen discussed the changes he saw in Young from the spring workouts of the previous year.
Tommy Tremble, the tight end for the Panthers, and Jaycee Horn, the cornerback, have already mentioned how Young, the first overall choice of the 2023 draft, showed “swag” and confidence in spring after a disastrous first season that ended with head coach Frank Reich being fired by team owner David Tepper in late November.
After Reich’s departure, Carolina hired former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales in Reich’s place. Later, the Panthers strengthened their offensive line and provided rookie wide receiver Xavier Legette and former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who Young much needed weapons.
Before the team’s summer break, Young said he is “internally” strong enough to recover greatly from everything he went through in his first season as a professional. Though Thielen admitted that no team wins anything of note from April to August,
A large portion of the offseason was devoted to Carolina’s efforts to address the problems that, hopefully, will help Young and enable him to overcome his rookie struggles.
That being said, if Young doesn’t play like a true franchise quarterback for the majority of his second pro season, the organisation that chose not to choose him may very well try to upgrade at quarterback as early as the following offseason.
