It didn’t take long for the No. 1 overall pick to seize the No. 1 overall spot on the depth chart.
Following Thursday’s organized team activities, a session that began with rookie quarterback Bryce Young taking snaps with the first-team offense, head coach Frank Reich told reporters that the move in the ranks has been made—at least for right now.
“That was something, at the beginning, Scott [Fitterer] and I kinda earmarked the time when we thought would be best. Kinda mapped it out, talked it through with the staff,” he said of Young’s bump up to first-string reps. “At the beginning of the offseason, this was kinda the time that we had marked this week to just kinda move him up. It’s just the next step, right? There’s really nothing to say other than, ‘Hey, we really just wanted to move him up this week.'”
Young was previously taking snaps behind 13-year veteran Andy Dalton, who signed a two-year, $10 million pact with the Panthers this offseason. That run lasted for about three weeks.
Reich was then asked about where Young’s processing skills, a major strength for the 21-year-old passer, currently stand.
“Obviously, I had very high expectations as far as mentally,” he replied. “And those expectations have been met. But, ya know, he’s like everybody else. It’s a new offense—especially some of the other stuff that we’re doin’ that he’s not done before. There’s a lot that we’re doing that he has done before. But I hope it’s been challenging for him. I think it has been.”
Well, it seems like that challenge has been accepted (and owned) by Young.
