In two seasons as the starting quarterback for coach Nick Saban, Bryce Young triggered a prolific offense at Alabama. Young threw 79 touchdown passes across the two seasons and won the Heisman Trophy in 2021.
That allowed him to enter the NFL as the first selection in the 2023 draft. But on Monday, the Carolina Panthers announced Young would not continue as their starting quarterback after producing two wins and 11 touchdown passes in 18 games.
During a Friday appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” Saban said Young had not had the opportunity to be a successful NFL quarterback.
“You guys have heard me say before: Quarterback is a really hard position to play if the people around you don’t play well,” Saban said. “Now I think sometimes a quarterback gets too much credit. I also think sometimes when things don’t go well, the quarterback gets too much blame. So do they have the kind of players around Bryce Young that even gives him a chance to be successful?
“But that’s one of the bad things about being the first guy picked in a draft. You may go to a team that doesn’t have all the pieces that you need. And I think the (Chicago) Bears this year, that’s not really the case. They have some pieces there. But Carolina did not, and they have to build this thing from the ground up.
“I hate to see Bryce get benched, but I also don’t see a lot of opportunity for him to be successful based on the skill players they have around him, the offensive line they have around him, and I think he’s the type of player that can really operate well when he has good players around him.”
The Bears selected Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft. Chicago didn’t have the No. 1 pick because it was the NFL’s worst team in 2023, but because Carolina was. The Panthers traded their first choice in the 2024 draft to the Bears as part of a package to move up to choose Young, then posted a 2-15 record in the 2023 NFL season.
Saban, who retired after the 2023 season, said he thought Young would emerge from the benching as a better quarterback.
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“I think he’s going to be positive about trying to learn and grow from this situation,” Saban said. “He’s always been a guy that sort of improved from his failings, so, hopefully, this will be an opportunity for him to do it again.”
Carolina coach Dave Canales announced Andy Dalton would replace Young as the starting quarterback a day after he had said, “Bryce Young is our quarterback” following the Panthers’ 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
Carolina opened the season with a 47-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 8.
The Panthers play the Las Vegas Raiders at 3:05 p.m. CDT Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
