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David Newton, ESPN Staff Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bryce Young was explaining the support he felt from fans during Thursday’s joint practice against the New York Jets when a confused look came across the face of the Carolina Panthers quarterback.
“Wait, are we in August?” Young said. “We’re in August, right? The 15th? I don’t know what day it is, honestly.”
Young’s ability to focus on what’s ahead and forget about last season — or even last week — to the point he doesn’t know the day of the week or month is one reason many believe his horrendous rookie year didn’t ruin him.
Among those confident Young will bounce back strong is Jets coach Robert Saleh, familiar with the challenges of a quarterback who was a high draft choice.
He admits now it would have been better had Zach Wilson, the second pick of the 2021 draft, learn behind a veteran quarterback the way his current quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, did with the Green Bay Packers.
Rodgers sat behind Hall of Famer Brett Favre for three seasons (2005 to 2007) before making his first start.
Saleh, who didn’t have that veteran in 2021, also knows there are as many plusses to playing rookie quarterbacks. He sees those in Young.
“Personally, I think Bryce is going to be fine,” Saleh said as the Jets prepared to face the Panthers on Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium. “He’s going to be a really good quarterback in this league.”
But the contrast between the way Young and Rodgers began their careers again raised the question of whether playing rookie quarterbacks immediately is a good thing.
There are those with Carolina last season who admit Young shouldn’t have started because he wasn’t ready and didn’t have the talent around him to succeed.
“We changed the offense three times in the offseason,” said a source close to Young’s situation. “That’s not gonna be beneficial for anybody, let alone a rookie quarterback. The philosophical alignment wasn’t always there.”
But according to ESPN Stats & Information, there is no more evidence to conclude Rodgers would have failed had he started immediately than there is Young will have a failed career because he didn’t have immediate success.
There is no evidence to conclude one philosophy is better than the other because there are too many factors that determine the early- or long-term success of a quarterback.
For every Young there is a C.J. Stroud, who had an outstanding rookie season for a Houston Texans team built better for immediate success. There also is a Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs) or Jordan Love (Packers), who had immediate success after playing behind a veteran for at least a year.
There will be more examples of both this year with at least three first-round picks — Caleb Williams (Chicago Bears), Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders) and Bo Nix (Denver Broncos) — in line to start right away.
“The only way to truly learn how to play quarterback in this league is to play,” said two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, who was 1-6 as a rookie for the New York Giants. “It will benefit [Young] and the team greatly this year that he played last year.”
Rodgers is evidence that having the right pieces around the quarterback is important regardless of when he first starts. He went 6-10 in his fourth season, first as the starter, for a Green Bay team coming off a 13-3 record.
He was solid with over 4,000 yards passing, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He just didn’t have the support, from an offensive line that performed miserably to injuries to a rush defense that went from 14th in 2007 to 26th in 2008.
But Rodgers didn’t lose confidence because of the losing any more than Young did after a 2-14 record with only 11 touchdown passes to 10 interceptions behind a bad offensive line and with receivers who couldn’t create separation.
It’s the mental toughness Young showed dealing with failure that made some confident playing him was the right move.
“If they are mentally tough, let them get the experience,” said another source familiar with Young’s situation. “I’m not worried about ruining someone mentally. If they are going to be your franchise quarterback for the next 12 to 15 years, they can handle it.
“If they can’t handle it, they are not your franchise quarterback.”
First-year Panthers coach Dave Canales was with the Seattle Seahawks in 2012 when third-round pick Russell Wilson went 11-5 as a rookie.
He also was part of rebuilding Geno Smith’s career at Seattle in 2022 after the 39th pick of the 2013 draft seemingly was ruined his first two seasons with the Jets, with whom he was a combined 11-18 with 15 touchdown passes to 34 interceptions.
Canales errs on the side of experience is most important.
“The one thing I try to lean on for really all of my quarterbacks is to trust that the exposure and experience you’ve had are great lessons,” he said. “Those are invaluable reps.”
That was evident during Sunday’s padded practice when Young, flushed out of the pocket and on the run, threw a pass that wide receiver Jonathan Mingo dove to catch.
Young followed that with a first-down completion to Diontae Johnson while scrambling to his right.
“Some of those throws he wouldn’t have even attempted last year,” veteran receiver Adam Thielen said.
Thielen added Young’s release is more “on time this year” because of what he went through in 2023.
“He was probably too quick a lot of times last year,” he said. “You can really see he’s just trusting his progression. He’s going through his reads, he’s finding guys in rhythm, in timing.”
Backup quarterback Andy Dalton, who went 9-7 as a rookie for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2011, agreed.
“There’ll be things that Bryce is able to do this year that he may not have done last year because he’s seen it and he knows the answer now based off what he experienced,” he said.
Rookie quarterbacks thrown immediately into the mix usually are on bad teams or don’t have a solid veteran ahead of him, or both. There also are salary cap advantages to going with the rookie versus a high-priced veteran.
Love stepped into a situation at Green Bay in 2021 with Rodgers the starter and the team coming off a 13-3 season. He admitted having patience was hard, particularly after Rodgers signed an extension in 2022.
Love also admitted what he learned from Rodgers made his first year as a starter in 2023 a success (32 touchdowns, 11 interceptions).
“I was just able to watch a great quarterback, how he works every day, how he handles business in the locker room, interacts with teammates, how he attacks every day,” Love said. ” … It’s just very valuable stuff.”
But even those who believe Young wasn’t ready to start last season believe playing him will pay dividends.
“Nothing gets you better prepared for playing football than playing football,” a source close to the situation said. “Being able work out so many kinks in real time, if you have the patience as an organization, it can be beneficial.”
That’s where outside factors come in. Rodgers entered the league with one of the most stable organizations in the NFL. Young joined a franchise that hasn’t had a winning season since 2017 and with an owner in David Tepper who has fired three head coaches in-season since 2019.
Frank Reich was fired last season after a 1-11 start to his first season.
“It’s hard to evaluate [Young] just because of some of the stuff that happened in the offseason leading up to training camp that didn’t really give Bryce the best opportunity to be ready and prepared for the season,” one source said.
The same source added Young has a fighting chance this season with additions like Johnson and a rebuilt offensive line that should cut down significantly on his 62 sacks a year ago.
Ultimately, there’s no evidence based off history to suggest Young is more likely to turn out like Wilson (now with the New Orleans Saints) than Rodgers.
“Obviously, you’re building a philosophy, a system around him, the players that fit the system of a philosophy, a style of play,” Saleh said. “And once this organization gets all that in, he’s going to take off.”