Frank Reich compares Bryce Young to Peyton Manning in epic behind-the-scenes footage before draft

The Carolina Panthers made former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft as they embark on a rebuild. Head coach Frank Reich’s conviction behind the pick was highlighted some behind-the-scenes video shared by the team.

In the third episode of “Panthers Blueprint,” released by the team on YouTube, part of the 45-minute episode shows Reich stumping for Young. When discussing Young, Reich compared him to another transcendent signal-caller he’s coached: Peyton Manning.

“So, actually just in respect to quarterback play. I’ll just say this: When I was coaching Peyton Manning and watching him, watching how he operated as a kind of personal coaching exercise, I was like, ‘What makes this guy special?’ And so I came up with just five traits,” Reich said to the assembled coaches and front office staff, including general manager Scott Fitterer. “This is what I got from watching Peyton Manning. And this is how I think about quarterback play.”

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Reich, who coached Manning while serving as an assistant in Indianapolis, broke down the five traits he wants to see as such:

1. Toughness
2. Footwork
3. Accuracy
4. Playmaking
5. An X factor

The last one, of course, is the trickiest. But Reich summed it up as such.

“No. 5 is, let’s call it the X factor. Which is a way to say all the other intangibles. I like to say that quarterback has a multiplier effect, so if you have the offense and the team right here, and it runs through the quarterback. X times 1 equals X. But we want him to be a multiplier. When you put the team and the offense through him, you should get a bigger outcome because he makes everybody else better,” Reich said.

As for the other abilities? Young has them in spades.

And as Reich rolled through his list of traits he wants in a quarterback, the video cut in with clips of Young making plays that embody such a trait.

“No. 1 was, the quarterback should be the toughest guy on the team, mentally and physically. A mindset, a relentless mindset of nothing’s going to stop me. It’s a toughness, it’s a confidence that’s palpable and the whole team feels it. No. 2 is footwork and finish. He’s got to play from the ground up at any position, so he’s got to have good footwork. No. 3 is accuracy. Tight windows, we all know accuracy is really important. No. 4 is playmaking ability. The uncanny ability to make plays in the clutch. When it really matters the most, somebody needs to make a stinking play, the great quarterbacks just find a way to do it,” Reich said.

Safe to say the Carolina coach is happy to have Young on hand.