In a surprise move on Monday, the Carolina Panthers benched former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young and announced that veteran Andy Dalton will start this week against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Although coach Dave Canales has repeatedly said, “Bryce is our quarterback,” it appears the Panthers don’t want any more of the season to pass them by.

That has major fantasy football implications for Panthers wide receivers Adam Thielen and Diontae Johnson, as well as for Dalton himself.

For players in super-flex leagues without Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love, Andy Dalton is an immediate option as a streaming player until they return.

Dalton’s best days may be behind him, but he should still be an improvement over the second-year signal-caller. Young has a 55.4% completion rate this season (31st behind Caleb Williams) and a 44.1 passer rating (35th). In his two starts, he has 245 passing yards, no passing touchdowns and three interceptions.

According to SportRadar, only 57.1% of Young’s passes have been caught this season.

Andy Dalton has a career catchable pass rate of 68% and a career completion rate of 62.5%. He also has a career passing touchdown rate of 4.5% and has the sixth-most passing touchdowns among active players.

Those who have Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen on the roster can be optimistic.

Diontae Johnson saw just a 67% catchable pass rate in 2023 from a combination of Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, and Mitch Trubisky. However, he was still able to average four catches and 55 receiving yards per game. Playing with Ben Roethlisberger in 2021, however, Johnson was able to amass 1,181 yards on nearly seven catches and 73 receiving yards per game. 70% of Roethlisberger’s passes were deemed catchable that season.

Johnson leads this team with 12 targets, but he hasn’t been able to convert that into much for his fantasy managers, with just 34 total yards through his first two games of the season. With the Panthers’ defense not doing them any favors, Johnson should see plenty of targets with Andy Dalton.

Adam Thielen should also get a boost.

In his lone start with Carolina in 20223, Dalton targeted Adam Thielen 14 times for 145 yards and a score. Thielen finished WR3 in PPR scoring that week, while Dalton finished as QB7.

Panthers offensive coordinator Brad Idzik and head coach Dave Canales had success with Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans in Tampa Bay. There is hope they can do more in Carolina with Andy Dalton now at QB.