Panthers 2023 season opener countdown: 9 days to go

We continue our countdown to the Carolina Panthers regular season opener.

We’re counting down the days to kickoff of the Carolina Panthers 2023 season, and we’ve made it to single digits. There are only nine days left, so we look at number nine for the Panthers, rookie quarterback Bryce Young.

The Panthers took Young with the number one overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft after a standout college career at Alabama. The first overall selection came with a steep cost. The Panthers gave up star receiver DJ Moore and a handful of high value draft picks to move up and pick the former Heisman Trophy winner and make him the team’s quarterback of the future.

Young was reportedly super impressive in offseason workouts and in camp and has gotten rave reviews from both coaches and players. He quickly usurped veteran free agent signing Andy Dalton for the starting quarterback role, and his play in the preseason has reaffirmed the coaching staff’s faith in him. The stats weren’t eye popping—he completed 14 of 24 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown, but he looked the part. He was poised under pressure and didn’t bat an eye when he got knocked down. He’s almost boringly composed. He makes the right decisions and doesn’t force risky passes. He takes what the defense gives him.

The coaching staff opened things up a bit more in the preseason finale, and we saw Young lead two scoring drives in two possessions. He capped it off with a touchdown pass to Adam Thielen, who looks like he’ll be Young’s security blanket as Young transitions to the NFL.

Young is hopefully the Panthers quarterback for the next decade or two and is hopefully the guy to lead this franchise to great things. The Panthers have desperately been searching for a quarterback since the end of the Cam Newton era. While Young definitely can’t fill those literal shoes, he has the tools and the traits to be the next franchise quarterback for the Panthers.