NEW ORLEANS -- Bryce Young dropped back three steps Sunday on the first snap of his second season for the Carolina Panthers and got rid of the ball quickly, just as his coaches preached to him all offseason.
The play had all the elements new head coach Dave Canales hoped would get the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 draft off to a fast start. The new interior line with guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis set a clean pocket to give their 5-foot-10 quarterback a clear vision.
New No. 1 receiver Diontae Johnson ran the route as cleanly as he had throughout training camp, giving Young an easy target over the middle.
Young missed -- badly.
He overthrew Johnson by about 10 yards and the Saints were there for the interception.
FIRST PLAY ON DEFENSE & IT'S A WILL HARRIS INTERCEPTION
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 8, 2024
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"It's just a play we have a lot of confidence in,'' said wide receiver Adam Thielen, who looked more like the intended receiver because the pass was so bad. "They gave us a different look than how we set it up and they made a play. Yeah, I mean it was disheartening.''
A new coach. A new scheme. Same result for Young.
What ensued in the 47-10 loss, the worst opening-day setback in team history, provided little hope that Young or the Panthers can turn the corner from last season's NFL-worst 2-15 record.
To add to the "here we go again" feeling, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Derrick Brown suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Brown's injury might have been easier to handle had Young shown signs of improvement, but he did little to suggest he'll meet the expectations that come with being the top pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
Young's Total QBR (10.7) was the second lowest of his nascent career after a 2023 season in which he ranked 29th (34.1) out of 30 qualified quarterbacks. His 32.8 passer rating was the lowest as a pro, and his 43.3 completion percentage (13-of-30 for 161 yards with two interceptions) was his second-lowest.
Even worse, his passer rating under pressure of 0.0 (2-of-9 for 24 yards with an interception and four sacks) was the worst in the league on a weekend when the average quarterback had a rating of 62.6 under pressure.
This after a preseason in which Canales was so confident Young was ready to take a step forward that he played him and the first team only one series in three preseason games.
The only positive Canales had on Young's performance afterwards was his pre-snap operation.
"That was kind of my biggest concern, and I thought we did a really good job,'' Canales said.
Statistically, the only positive was that Young averaged 10.6 air yards per attempt, the second highest of his brief career after averaging 6.7 as a rookie. So he was at least trying to get the ball downfield more, but the results weren't great, completing only 3 of 9 passes of at least 15 air yards, which included both interceptions, according to ESPN Stats & Information. That led to little to no success for an offense that in many ways was as dysfunctional as the one that finished last in the NFL in 2023.
"It's stuff that I could've done a better job of and accounted for ... adjusted to,'' Young said. "I definitely can do better there."
He has to or the Panthers will again end up with the worst record, the top pick in 2025 and have to decide whether to draft another quarterback to replace Young.
As far as playing Young more in the preseason, the 43-year-old Canales admitted "that's something we have to think about.'' Canales also could have opened with a run to help settle down the team after New Orleans took a quick 7-0 lead on a 59-yard touchdown pass.
But ultimately this falls on Young, who like last season, looked overwhelmed and outmatched whether he was in the pocket or scrambling.
The first interception amplified that.
"I thought [Johnson] had good space,'' Canales said. "I thought he did a good job of separating there, so it was just a matter of [the] me-to-you factor, get that ball to him in that space."
Canales has found something positive to say about everything since becoming the team's third head coach since 2022. He began almost every post-practice press conference during training camp with some version of "what a great day,'' even when it rained.
But on Sunday he found little that was positive, and there was no evidence Young has or will take a stride forward after a rookie season when he ranked at or near the bottom in most key statistics.
All the new pieces put around him didn't seem to help. Johnson, the star of training camp, finished with two catches on six targets for 19 yards.
The Saints sacked Young on Sunday as many times as they totaled in a pair of wins against Carolina last season.
After reviewing film, Canales said only one of the four sacks was on Young. He took part of the blame, saying he left the quarterback in the pocket like "a sitting duck.'' He also said Carolina was outcoached offensively. "We didn't give our guys enough to give them simple solutions.''
The only positive Hunt saw was "we've got a game next week [Los Angeles Chargers in Charlotte] that we can come back and try to change what we just did today. That's a positive.''
Canales didn't offer hope for a quick turnaround, noting "it's a long journey to become us.''
"We all have this shared vision of what we can become, and until we feel that, until we feel those drives ... we know we're not there yet,'' he added.