Panthers TE Hayden Hurst on what went wrong for Bryce Young: 'Too much input'

It’s not surprising to learn this. Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young probably had too many people in his ear this season. And it made for a miserable time for the top pick of last year’s NFL Draft.

This is all according to Panthers veteran tight end Hayden Hurst, who has the benefit of six years experience in the league.

“I think there’s just too many opinions and you’re kind of looking for the right answer from everybody. Too much input, which sucks for Bryce,” Hurst said, “I think he kind of had a lot of people in his ear telling him one thing. When you’re a 21-year-old kid, you think that is gonna be consistent in the NFL. And unfortunately for him, I think maybe he was listening to too many people. So it’ll be a good off season for him, again, just to kind of get back to his roots.”

The Panthers season certainly was a strange, different experience for Young, who starred for the Alabama Crimson Tide. This entire season defined the term state of flux. Carolina fired its first-year coach Frank Reich. There were different playcallers. And injuries. Then the Panthers ended the season by not scoring in consecutive games on their way to a 2-15 record. The final game — a 9-0 loss to the Buccaneers.

Panthers one of 10 NFL teams starting rookie quarterbacks

Meanwhile, this also was the season of the rookie quarterback, with an NFL record 10 of them starting games. C.J. Stroud, who was the second pick of the draft, led the Texans to the AFC South title. Anthony Richardson, the fourth pick and third quarterback selected, missed most of the season after shoulder surgery. Meanwhile, rookie Will Levis, the fourth quarterback drafted, began starting for the Titans at mid-season.

Rookies can suffer from information overload. Now imagine being the starting quarterback on an offense that never got off the ground. And the Panthers can’t even take full advantage of being the worst team in the league for April’s draft. Ordinarily, they’d have the first pick of the draft. But the Panthers exchanged it with the Bears last year to trade up and select Young at No. 1.

Reporters talked to Young as he was cleaning out his locker this week. He didn’t dispute the fact that he received a ton of information this past season. But was it an overload, the kind that short circuits the function of the football brain?

“I feel like that’s always a part of, it’s a part of the position,” Young told Panthers media. “Everyone wants to help. That’s the thing, everyone’s involved, everyone’s invested and I don’t feel like it was too much.”

You can consider this extra input, but Hurst said he did have some feedback to help Young.

“The kid won the Heisman trophy, he’s pretty good. He’s the first overall pick. He’s pretty good,” Hurst said of the Panthers youngster. “So that’s kind of what I told him the other day. Go home to wherever you need to go to and just tear it all down, man. Go back to where you were at Alabama, that kid, that confident kid and just go back to your roots.”