Thomas Brown talks about when he was sold on Bryce Young

The comparisons between Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud are hitting another peak this week, as the Carolina Panthers are set to host the Houston Texans on Sunday. But first-year offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, in what was a pretty savvy move, sidestepped that discourse.

Ahead of the team’s Week 8 outing, one where he’ll be in charge of play-calling duties for the first time in his coaching career, Brown was asked about his time evaluating Stroud during the pre-draft process.

“Nah, I’m not gonna touch that one,” he said with a smirk. “Again, I got a ton of respect for C.J., and he is playin’ really well right now. They’re doin’ a great job as far as preparing him week in and week out. But there’s no doubt that we’re . . . I am, we all are happy about Bryce bein’ our quarterback and we’ll keep buildin’ forward with him.”

Brown’s certainly not wrong, as Stroud has burst onto the scene over his first six weeks in the NFL. The No. 2 overall pick has thrown for 1,660 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception while leading Houston to a surprising 3-3 record.

So, if he didn’t want to touch on his past evaluations of Stroud, maybe he was more than glad to do it for his own quarterback. (Spoiler: He was.)

Brown was later asked if he could pinpoint a particular moment where he knew Young was worthy enough for the No. 1 overall selection.

“It was kind of a building process,” he replied. “As I mentioned before, I had a chance to kinda talk about him goin’ through the evaluation process while I was goin’ through those five different interviews for the OC positions, and watchin’ tape on all the quarterbacks that were available in the draft.

“But as I mentioned before, havin’ a chance to actually meet him, sit down and talk with him, talk ball with him, pick his brain, get to meet his family—that kinda solidified more the thought process about why he’s the guy for us.”