Panthers Training Camp: Bryce Young Proving Why He Was the No. 1 Pick

The Panthers are here in New Jersey for their second preseason game. And we have five things to help put their training camp in perspective …

• There was a play in camp that can encapsulate how Bryce Young is doing that was described to me—and on it, how advanced he is for a 21-year-old rookie was there in vivid color for everyone watching. On the play, the pocket collapsed around the 5'10" dynamo. As that was happening, Young stepped up, eyes downfield, processed what was around him and unleashed a ball toward the far sideline. At his release point, the receiver was still a step and a half from making his break. As the receiver turned, the ball was arriving. And the chains were moving. In one fell swoop, Young showed the nerve to stand in against the rush, the feet to move within the pocket, the focus and toughness to stay with the play, and the anticipation to throw to a spot. It was, simply, a veteran throw, and another example of how Young has come as advertised. There are still fair questions on how his frame will hold up to an NFL pounding. But there’s no question that, to this point, he’s living up to being selected No. 1 in the draft (and I say that with the team fully acknowledging that the normal rookie growing pains are coming).
  

• The Panthers expected their offensive line to be a strength coming into the season, and it still might be. But with Austin Corbett likely on the shelf until October, there are questions on how the interior positions are going to shake out, with Ickey Ekwonu and Taylor Moton at the tackle spots. And help might be coming from an unlikely place. Fourth-round pick Chandler Zavala will start at guard Friday night and has an opportunity over the next week to win that spot for the start of the regular season. Brady Christensen and undrafted free agent Nash Jensen are also in the mix at guard, with Bradley Bozeman starting at center. And the competition will carry into the season, with a decision eventually coming on who stays in the lineup when Corbett returns.

• The Panthers really believe they got a steal in poaching Miles Sanders from the Eagles for about $6 million per year and think he’s got a chance to be the kind of do-everything piece that can help ease the transition of Young to the pros, such as Todd Gurley once did for Jared Goff or Ezekiel Elliott did for Dak Prescott. And the other addition to the skill group that figures to play a big role is Jonathan Mingo, who’ll likely start for the Panthers in Week 1. He’s up to 226 pounds, cutting a similar figure to a couple of other Ole Miss Rebel receivers in the NFL (he’s built a little more like A.J. Brown than DK Metcalf) and has shown physicality, toughness and smarts early in camp. One reason he fell in the draft was because his college offense didn’t demand he run the full route tree. But, now he’s shown potential that he’ll be able to do so.

• The shift in defensive scheme to Ejiro Evero’s Vic Fangio–influenced system is fairly significant, and that’s made the presence of Shaq Thompson and Vonn Bell really important. At this point of his career, Thompson operates like a coach out on the field, and Bell’s addition was an important one, with the amount of postsnap movement and disguise Evero is bringing to the table in a defense built to constantly change the picture on the offense. Both guys have shown their experience in how they’ve operated as on-field communicators as everyone’s made the adjustment.

• The Carolina defense is talented, plain and simple. Brian Burns has been a handful in camp, and Derrick Brown isn’t far behind, looking like he could take a big step in his pass-rush production in Year 4. The Panthers have three corners (Jaycee Horn, C.J. Henderson and Donte Jackson) they feel great about, though they’ll have to prove they can stay healthy. And Frankie Luvu’s been a bit of a revelation as a relentless, disruptive, versatile piece for the front seven, one who should allow for more creativity from Evero. Should be a fun group to watch.