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Panthers Shelve Former No. 1 Pick Andy Dalton
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Panthers Shelve Former No. 1 Pick Andy Dalton

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Bryce Young takes a break.

The Carolina Panthers have benched the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft in favor of veteran backup Andy Dalton.

“Andy is giving us our best chance to win right now,” rookie head coach Dave Canales said at a news conference Monday afternoon. “I’m excited for Andy.”

Canales informed Young and Dalton of the roster changes Monday morning, but would not publicly say whether Dalton will be the starting player after Week 3.

It’s been a bumpy season for the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, who failed to live up to his draft promise for a variety of reasons. In Young’s 18 professional starts, Carolina has lost 16 times. On a personal level, Young has completed less than 60% of his passes with a 70.9 passer rating. He’s thrown 12 touchdowns and 19 turnovers and often looks uncomfortable on the field. His ability to read and follow through, perhaps seen as his biggest asset heading into the draft — and a perceived compensation for his slight frame (5-10, 204) — has yet to pay off in the pros.

But Young is already dealing with this third head coach, Canales in this case, a string of play callers and one of the NFL’s least talented rosters. He threw for a career-low 84 yards in Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers — a disastrous home opener that sent fans in Charlotte scrambling for the exits early.

“I think I just have to get better at making decisions,” Young said afterward. “You always want to make a play. You want to do something. Obviously, it’s part of the job to be the playmaker. There were some bad examples of that on film today. I definitely take responsibility for that.”

When asked after Sunday’s loss to the Chargers if Young’s job was in jeopardy, Canales replied that it was not.

“Bryce is our quarterback,” he said a day ago. “We’re just going to continue to strengthen and fix the things that we need to do fundamentally, from a scheme standpoint, all those things. These are all valuable reps, all valuable games. We’re going to learn a lot from this game and hopefully take another step (next) week.”

Dalton, 36, is a three-time Pro Bowler who has thrown for 38,511 yards and 246 touchdowns during his 14-year career. He threw for 361 yards and two TDs in his lone start of 2023, a 37-27 loss at Seattle, where Young sat out due to injury.

The Panthers, who have yet to win a game, will play the Raiders in Las Vegas on Sunday.

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Follow Nate Davis of USA TODAY Sports on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.