It's time to talk about Bryce Young and Dave Canales

It's been a season and a half of the partnership between Dave Canales and Bryce Young. They've played 20 games together, which is enough of a sample size to start making judgments. They've shown flashes, but this Carolina Panthers partnership does not appear to be working.

Today's ugly loss was the crux of all that. It seems like Dave Canales doesn't know how to call games when he's not getting top-notch efforts from his running backs. Bryce Young doesn't seem to be able to elevate past that, as both were in rare (poor) form today.

Young's been pretty up and down throughout his NFL career, so it's pretty clear that he can be an NFL quarterback. It just isn't so clear that it can happen with the Panthers. Canales has also been pretty up and down, and it's not clear if he can be the guy for Carolina, either.

It would be hard to justify moving on from one and keeping the other, but that might work. Canales doesn't seem willing to adjust his game plan and scheme to fit Young's strengths. There are very few RPOs, and he doesn't go with tempo very often, even though Young does well in those situations.

Nov 9, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) warms up before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The counter argument is that Young can't run Canales' offense that well, which may be true. But a head coach has to be able to adjust to what his players can do, especially at the quarterback position. If Young can't do what Canales has been calling, why on earth is he still calling the plays that way?

If and when, because it does look more and more likely with each passing week, the Panthers move on from Young, he will undoubtedly bounce back and be the next Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield, or Sam Darnold.

For Canales, it's a little more make or break. His rise to coach was meteoric; he literally called plays for one season. His work as a QB guru got him the job, and while he did bring Young back from the brink, he has not been able to help him grow past that.

The Panthers are still 5-5 and have some winnable games on the schedule. So as long as they improve from last year's 5-12 record, which is all but assured at this point, we can't expect anything to change, at least not while Young is under contract.

But it's certainly time to wonder if the writing is on the wall for one or both of them, and I say that as a staunch Young supporter.

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