Bryce Young winning the Carolina Panthers QB1 job was a given

If you ever needed proof of America’s obsession with football — particularly the NFL — just take a look at what’s happening in Charlotte. Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich has made news by elevating No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young to QB1.

You don’t take a former Heisman Trophy winner with the first pick in the draft to make him sit on the bench behind the likes of 35-year-old Andy Dalton. But in 2023, this non-news is news.

“It’s just the next step,” said Reich. “We had a couple of weeks to watch Andy. Andy has continued to perform at a very high level. We’re just trying to get our team ready. Everything is about what’s best for our team, and so this was just the next step.”

“At the end of last week, I pulled Bryce aside and Andy and just said, ‘Hey, we talked about this from the beginning. You guys are doing it exactly like we wanted. We’re gonna make this switch and move forward,” Reich added.

This would have been a lot easier if the Reich and the Panthers didn’t treat this like it was something we didn’t already know. When Carolina signed Dalton in March to a two-year, $11 million contract with $8 million guaranteed, they needed a veteran in their quarterback room after things didn’t work out with Cam Newton and Baker Mayfield. But given that the team had the No. 1 pick and the pick of the litter between Young, C.J. Stroud, and Anthony Richardson, along with a new head coach who would more than likely want “his guy” leading the team, it wasn’t a secret that Dalton was just there to be…there.

It’s already been reported that Young received more first-team reps than Dalton in offseason workouts, although the Panthers had Dalton listed in a position he was never going to fill as the starter.

Dalton’s role as a backup for the Panthers is a valuable one, especially after what the San Francisco 49ers went through last season after they were left with Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson after Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo went down with injuries. Having options has never been a bad idea. However, once Lance had won the job as the starter, the team made sure to lock up Garoppolo as his backup. Purdy and Johnson just wound up being there out of desperation.

But, for some reason, the Carolina Panthers tried to make this a “thing,” as if Young and Dalton were locked in some preseason battle. In most of the other stories about this “news” you’ll find that Dalton isn’t quoted, or is only quoted once. And that’s because there’s no point in getting a reaction from a guy who already knew what the deal was, despite everyone else making something out of nothing.