The Carolina Panthers knew how intelligent Bryce Young was long before drafting him. Heck, general manager Scott Fitterer said talking to the kid was like talking to a 40-year-old man.
But according to a former quarterback, current NFL analyst and near-Panthers staffer, the No. 1 overall pick is even smarter than advertised.
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky joined Friday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show to break down the current landscape of the league. When asked how he sees the NFC South unfolding, Orlovsky said Carolina could be the frontrunner because of their galaxy-brained rookie.
“They are shocked how impressive Bryce Young is mentally,” he told McAfee. “I remember going back to probably like April and having conversations—and just like text message conversations—and kind of the phrase that kept gettin’ shared with me about Bryce was elite processor, elite processor, elite processor. Mentally so much more advanced than everybody else.
“And I think even they are surprised with how mentally advanced he is—both, like, football playbook-wise, football feel-wise, situational kinda understanding. I think the big takeaway right now, Pat, is they don’t feel like there is a single part of his game that holds them back from unloading their whole playbook. And that’s so rare for a rookie quarterback.
“You know how it is—sometimes you give ’em 20 percent. ‘Hey, we’re gonna pare down out game plan for the young kid.’ There’s not a single thing—it’s actually the opposite. They honestly think that because he’s so good mentally they can expand their playbook to what it has been—and that’s kinda taken them by surprise.”
This account from Orlovsky is a bit surprising itself considering, again, how highly regarded Young’s high football IQ already is. Head coach Frank Reich, back in May, even put his passer’s smarts on par with those of Peyton Manning—whom he worked with during his first run in Indianapolis.
So at this rate, the Panthers’ playbook may eventually turn into a phonebook.
