On the first day of training camp this year, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur leaned back in a folding chair adjacent to his practice field.
The Packers were in deep talks about a megadeal for Jordan Love. Three days later, the quarterback would agree to a contract worth $220 million with $100 million guaranteed.
It was a deal that rocked the NFL not because Love’s previous year’s performance was impressive, but because it was only Years of love were affected — or even started. But the Packers still believed in their quarterback.
More specifically, they believed in the marriage of their quarterback and play-caller.
Because they learned each other’s nuances halfway through their first season, something changed. After an October game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, LaFleur realized: I don’t need kid gloves anymore. My conservative play-calling is not helping this offense. If anything, they are suffocating.
“Early on, you’re trying to protect him — protect everybody, frankly,” LaFleur told Yahoo Sports on July 23. “We were a little more conservative, and so the mentality was, we always have a word here with the coaches. : ‘Shooters shoot.’ And it was more that mindset, that approach. We started doing that and our guys were making plays and it obviously served us well down the stretch.
“You’re always learning to make those changes whether you’re a head coach, you’re a coordinator or whatever. You have to learn.”
The change that followed was dramatic.
The Packers rebounded from a 3-6 start to win seven of their last nine regular-season games. Love threw 18 touchdowns with just one interception in the second stretch after a 14-for-10 clip in the first.
This success was preceded by several fundamental pieces. But one message also rang clear: Limiting a young quarterback isn’t always the best way to protect him. A player needs to adapt to a system rather than a player to a system – also not always ideal.
This lesson goes beyond the Packers. The Carolina Panthers are the latest students.
First-year coach Dave Canales’ decision to bench Bryce Young in September surprised the league. Young’s early performance under Canales did little to save the results, but the decision to pick him just two games into the 2023 first overall draft seemed rushed.
Wasn’t Canales hired to “fix” Yang? And if he is, what went wrong through offseason activities and training camp that left the duo completely unprepared for regular-season action in September?
As Young prepares for his first universally guaranteed start in two and a half months, the recent improvement in his game tells a story deeper than the quarterback.
“This past game really helped to win [Canales] Over,” a person with knowledge of the Panthers’ decision-making told Yahoo Sports. “Slowly but surely.”
As the game plan evolved, so did Bryce Young’s performance
In blowout losses to the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers in the first two weeks of the season, Young posted 32.8 and 57.2 passer ratings, no touchdowns and three interceptions that affected his confidence and his team’s trust in him.
He won’t start again until week 8, and only then if necessary: Veteran Andy Dalton sprained his thumb in a car accident.
But if necessity is the mother of invention, for Carolina it was the mother of reinvention — or at least recovery — of planned principles.
Canales came to Carolina after a career working with veterans. He was Russell Wilson and Geno Smith’s Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach and then Baker Mayfield’s offensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The defensive-looking youngster’s mental bank was much more limited, even if his potential was abundant. Canals to learn: How to protect a young quarterback?
“You can see it in his play-calls now,” the Panthers closer said of Canales. “Less screens to protect him and more aggressive throws down the field to open it up.”
Downfield shots, early down throws and play-action became the game plan.
After attempting just four play-action passes in each game before being benched, Young attempted 10 in Sunday’s 30-27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, completing six for 96 yards and a touchdown, according to Trumedia. On passes of 10+ air yards, he completed 9 of 16 attempts for 165 yards, producing a career-best expected completion percentage of 14.0% (minimum five attempts), according to Next Generation Stats.
Young’s skills have improved in each of his five starts, with his latest 92.9 passer rating the best in a quarterback’s system. And he’s coming off a career-high four passes in tight windows with a touchdown.
“I think all of our receivers would say we want him to do more,” Adam Thielen said. “He doesn’t have to be perfect. He can just go there, play for free, have fun.”
Part of his downfield success stems from trusting his targets. Another part reflects an improved navigation of the pocket.
“He trusts his security and is being decisive,” said a person close to the team. “Knowing when to climb, when to side step, when to bail backwards and when to jerk. You start to see the timing, the rhythm and the anticipation that he does so well at Bama.
Young deserves credit for all that, and for how his performance has evolved despite a rotating cast of receivers and a backup center. The role of the canal is also relevant. The play-caller seemed willing to give Young a chance to test the team’s confidence. The bleak outcome is similar to what Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel did for Tua Tagovailoa after the quarterback’s rocky career with Brian Flores.
Planning to give his players confidence.
Maintaining confidence will be important for Panthers, young growth
As the Panthers prepare for Sunday’s game against a Buccaneers team with many of Canales’ 2023 players, they will be hoping to build on the performance against the Chiefs that left them frustrated and hopeful.
Canales described the emotion of the loss to the Chiefs as “a combination of being sick to our stomachs for throwing away an opportunity against a really good team and even then, it seems the guys can feel what’s going on.
“We are becoming us. We are becoming a style of football that we want to be proud of.”
That brand of vision includes a promising quarterback throwing off his back foot to receivers with whom he’s developed chemistry. It emphasizes play-calling aggression to open up the field without hitting the ball security too punitively. The Panthers know their playmaking needs to be more consistent, third-down and red-zone skills are areas of growth where Young’s return has yet to materialize.
“There’s a lot of meat left on the bone,” Canales said. “It still has to be about completion.”
The Buccaneers are six-point favorites.
Tampa’s defense will challenge the Panthers, with Todd Bowles’ offensive scheme ninth-highest in the league at 30.6%. The Panthers drew hope from Young’s performance against Kansas City, when he hit a season-high 40% of dropbacks but completed 11 of 14 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, according to NextGen Stats. He extends more plays and finds more answers to defensive problems.
“I’m like oh, that Alabama Bryce, that the coldinside linebacker Trevin Wallace said. “I love watching him make plays. Because a lot of people, I think, doubted him a little bit. He is proving the doubters wrong. I love that about Bryce. He’s got that confidence about him and I love that.”
He also gained confidence from his team.
And unlike the start of the season, Young seems to be earning the trust of his head coach. The Packers saw what that confidence could breed. Dolphins too. Are the Panthers next?
“I’m proud of Bryce the way he handled everything,” Canales said. “Every week, he’s improved in what he’s doing.
“He’s making a statement to all of us.”