The first huge quarterback move of the young NFL season has been made, with the Panthers benching last year’s No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young. What does that mean for the franchise and Young’s career?
Following Tua Tagovailoa’s latest concussion issue, a surprise name has been tossed up as a potential trade target for the Miami Dolphins.
Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have broke an historic 22-year streak, for all the wrong reasons.
Read on for all the talking points from Week 2 of the NFL season!
Watch an average of 3 games each week during the regular season, plus every game of the NFL Postseason including the Super Bowl, LIVE on ESPN with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
PANTHERS’ HUGE SHAKE UP AFTER HORROR START
The Carolina Panthers have made the massive call to bench their quarterback, 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young.
It’s been a terrible start for Young and the Panthers this season, losing both games by a combined score of 73-13.
In those games, Young is 31-56, 245 yards and three interceptions.
That’s on average 4.4 yards per pass attempt, which is the second lowest mark in the league.
He’s looked timid, throws have been wildly inaccurate, his footwork has been off, and he’s been leaving plays on the field.
Granted, he doesn’t have the supporting cast of receivers, but there’s more than enough playmakers to make much happen than he has so far.
While Young is still in the early stages of his career and has plenty of time to bounce back and realise the potential that made him the No. 1 pick in the draft, his benching can’t be seen as anything else than a mitigated disaster for Carolina.
Carolina traded the farm to the Chicago Bears to move up to No. 1 in last year’s draft to pick Young, including parting ways with stud wide receiver DJ Moore and three draft picks which the Bears turned into three potential stars.
One of those was 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, given the Panthers finished last season with the worst record. Williams is considered the best draft prospect in over ten years.
In addition, the Panthers picked Young instead of second overall pick C.J Stroud, who was selected by the Houston Texans. Carolina then signed Young to a four-year, $56m (AUD) deal.
Stroud was a revelation in his debut season, winning Rookie of the Year and leading a young Houston team to the playoffs.
Adding salt to the wounds this season is that Stroud has only improved in the off-season with the Texans 2-0 after two weeks.
Young started 16 of 17 games in his debut season, and while he mostly struggled, he did finish the year nicely, including a 312-yard, two touchdown game against Green Bay.
New coach Dave Canales, an offensive guru who worked wonders for Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay last season, was hired in the off-season to change the fortunes of the Panthers and Young.
However, he’s failed to do so in the off-season, which has to be off some worry to the Panthers’ brass.
Former NFL QB and high draft pick Robert Griffin III said that it shouldn’t be lost that Young entered a poor situation.
It was reported around the time of the 2023 NFL draft that last year’s Panthers head coach Frank Reich was never in favour of the team picking Young, which was instead a decision made by controversial owner David Tepper.
Canales made the decision the day after Carolina’s 26-3 home loss to the Chargers to bench Young in favour of veteran quarterback Andy Dalton in an attempt to save their season.
The silver lining is that this could end up being the best thing possible for Young.
It’ll give him the chance to sit behind a veteran, learn the playbook without the pressures of being under centre, and see how a successful QB like Dalton navigates the role.
While it looks grim now, there’s still hope for Young.
WILL CALEB SURVIVE BEHIND ‘DISASTROUS’ OFFENSIVE LINE
Speaking on Williams, the 2024 No. 1 pick, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for him this season either.
The Chicago QB’s stats aren’t too dissimilar to Young’s this season, although the Bears have been much more competitive, winning their opener before pushing Stroud’s Texans in a 19-13 Week 2 loss.
While Young has the second lowest pass yards per attempt figure (4.4), Williams has the worst with a paltry 4.
Williams had some outstanding moments during the pre-season, but he’s struggled to find any rhythm in the opening two weeks.
Unlike Young though, Williams is playing behind an awful offensive line. Against the Texans, he was sacked a whopping seven times.
In fact, through two weeks, Williams is the most-sacked quarterback in the NFL.
“I’m a little bruised up,” Williams said after the loss.
“I took a couple hits today. I’m going to get in ice tubs and do all the things I need to do to make sure my body is ready for tomorrow and practice other the other days and obviously next game.”
The frustration for Bears fans is that they’ve seen this movie before.
The offensive line wasn’t much better last season, which left quarterback Justin Fields running for his life in most games.
When the Bears locked in the No. 1 pick to presumably pick Williams, Fields was traded to the Steelers.
Fields is 2-0 this season, and taking care of the football behind a much better protective front in Pittsburgh than he ever saw in Chicago.
Many believe Williams is the guy to lead the Bears back to their glory days of yesteryear, however even the league’s best and most experienced quarterbacks would struggle behind Chicago’s offensive line.
The Bears need to find a solution, and quick as not only will it be another lost season, but their main man could cop a serious injury if the issue isn’t rectified.
No quarterback can take that type of treatment for a whole season.
LAMAR FIRST MVP TO START 0-2
It has been a less than ideal start for the Baltimore Ravens this season, losing their opening two games.
A loss to the defending champion Chiefs in Week 1 can be forgiven, considering they were an Isaiah Likely toenail away from forcing overtime in the season opener.
However, the Ravens had no right to give up a big lead to the lowly Las Vegas Raiders on Monday morning (AEST).
Baltimore led the Raiders 23-13 in the fourth quarter at home, before letting Las Vegas to score 13 unanswered points to lose 26-23.
The Raiders aren’t expected to be in the playoff hunt this season, and with the weapons that Baltimore have on offence, including reigning MVP QB Lamar Jackson, RB Derrick Henry and TE Mark Andrews, it’s a lead that shouldn’t have been surrended.
The early hole led ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky to call the Ravens’ offence as “predictable”.
“I think they’re very predictable now, offensively. … When Derrick Henry’s in the game, they [opposing defenses] know the run’s coming,” he said.
The loss means Jackson becomes the first reigning MVP to start the following season 0-2 in 22 years.
Of course, there’s plenty of time to right the ship. The worrying aspect is that the Ravens face a murderer’s row of opponents in the coming weeks.
Next week, Baltimore take on the talented Dallas Cowboys in a daunting road game. Dallas will be hungry for a bounce back after a disappointing Week 2 loss.
After the Cowboys, the Ravens will play AFC powerhouses Buffalo and Cincinnati.
To keep their season alive, the Ravens will have to win at least two of those you’d think, which will be a tall order.
Bengals lose in absurd fashion yet again | 01:01
INTRIGUING TRADE PROPOSAL AS STAR QB FACES DEMOTION (via NY Post)
Could a healthy Russell Wilson be the Dolphins’ answer at quarterback with Tua Tagovailoa sidelined following his latest concussion?
Rex Ryan floated the possibility Monday on ESPN’s “Get Up” as Tagovailoa — who suffered his fourth documented concussion Thursday in Miami’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo — continues to see specialists with no timetable set for a return.
“If you’re a team that loses a quarterback and you call the Pittsburgh Steelers, is someone going to consider trying to trade for Russell Wilson? If you’re a team right now and your quarterback got hurt, would you be calling them about Russell Wilson?” Mike Greenberg asked, to which Ryan replied, “I think he’d be the number one guy you would call.”
Wilson, who joined the Steelers in March following a break-up with the Broncos after two seasons, has missed the past two games with a lingering calf issue.
Backup quarterback Justin Fields has since led the Steelers to two straight wins, with questions arising if the former first-round pick will continue in the starting role.
Ryan then suggested what the potential asking price could be for an established veteran such as Wilson, who is coming off a 26-touchdown, eight-interception campaign in 2023.
“Here’s what you ask for, you ask for a first-round pick,” Ryan said. “… Why would Pittsburgh trade him? Unless it’s a first-round pick, they’re not going to trade him because their situation is good.
“Everybody knows you need two quarterbacks in this league and so no, but I’m telling you, you’ve seen it, what’s the price of a starting quarterback in this league? It’s a first-round pick.
“So the only way you make that move for Russell Wilson is if you’re a team that has lost their starting quarterback and you think you are a playoff-contending team.”
Enter the Dolphins, who reached the wildcard round last year after an 11-6 regular-season finish, with Ryan suggesting “there very well could be” a playoff contender in South Beach.
“We don’t know exactly where that’s going to lead to with Tua but certainly that feels like among the possibilities of a team that might need to make a move for a quarterback,” Greenberg said.
The Dolphins do have insurance at quarterback with former seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson, who relieved the injured Tagovailoa in Week 2, and former Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley, who joined the team Monday.
Tagovailoa, 26, was just two games into his four-year, $212.4 million contract extension when he suffered the injury upon lowering his head while rushing for a first down.
Despite calls from former NFL players to retire, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that Tagovailoa has “no plans” to do so.
Tagovailoa’s injury has opened up speculation that Miami could send an SOS to retired superstar Tom Brady.
Brady didn’t rule out a comeback when asked about the chances of it earlier this year, but he’s just started a rich deal to be the lead broadcaster at FOX.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter poured cold water on the speculation
“I know a lot of people suggested Tom Brady — bringing him out of retirement. That’s not gonna happen,” Schefter said.
Discussion about this post