Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich wanted to put the big rumors to a big rest ahead of this Sunday’s outing.
That Week 8 matchup will see Reich and company play host to the Houston Texans and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, whom the Panthers passed on with the No. 1 overall pick this past spring. So, with Stroud having quite the start for the team who did select him and No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young not having quite the start for Carolina, Reich was asked if he still thinks his franchise made the right choice.
“We got the guy we wanted to get,” he said. “And couldn’t be happier about that, in every way. And I would say this—I’m happy for C.J. He’s had six good games, and I have no doubt he’ll have many more good games. But I know this—when it comes to evaluatin’ quarterbacks or any position, it’s years, not weeks. You can’t put a label on a guy after six weeks, or even a year.
“I’ve seen guys have Pro Bowl seasons, and then a year later fightin’ to be a backup somewhere else. It’s a crazy league. What you’re lookin’ for and what we’re lookin’ for—not just from our quarterback, but in every position—is sustained success at a high level for a very long time. And you can’t measure it in weeks.”
“Measure” was quite the buzzword when it came to this particular quarterback class, as the first player to go was the alarmingly undersized, 5-foot-10, 2104-pound Young. That helped give way to Houston’s choice of Stroud, who stands at 6-foot-3 and almost 220 pounds.
Reich, who has been believed to prefer bigger quarterbacks over his coaching career, was also asked if size really does matter.
“I’ve never said that to one person anytime, anywhere,” he replied. “Always said—I like C.J. Stroud a lot. I’ve said this many times—I like that whole quarterback draft. I think they were all really good prospects. I think they’re all gonna have really good NFL careers.
“My eyes and our eyes were on Bryce Young, from start to finish. You look at the film, you talk to the man, you get a sense for the leader, the player and what he is and what he can be and how he fits to what we wanna do in the vision we have as an offense, as a team and as an organization. We got the guy for us.
“And I’m sure Houston feels they got the guy for them. That’s great. I mean, I think it’s great for the NFL, it’s great for our two guys. I think we’re both very happy with where we’re at and the direction we’re goin’.”
