What Exactly Caused Bryces Turnaround?

[jtm]

Rookies always talk about how fast the NFL is and eventually the light bulb comes on and the game appears to slow down.  I think this plus Bryce appears to have his swagger back is the reason for the change.  

[countryboi]

10 minutes ago, SmokinwithWilly said:

I think it probably had something to do with his career about to be over. He's always been surrounded by the best talent and with that comes some ease in doing your job. When everyone on your team is at least 2 or 3 star better recruits than 90% of the opposing team. In the NFL everyone is 5 star recruits. I think it was probably a wake up call that either he starts actually putting in the work, or he was going down as one of the biggest busts in NFL history. 

Lord, I wish I’d stop saying this, but Bama is on TV every single week. Even if you hate Bryce this is just not true. 

 

During Bryce’s sophomore year, Bama was exceptionally talented. However, by his junior year, most of his pro level teammates had left, and the team wasn’t nearly as strong. Bryce carried them through several games, showing incredible grit in a murderous SEC. The second-best player on that team was Gibbs.

[CBDellinger]

idk what levers Canales was puling behind the scene but whatever it was appears to be nothing short of magical.  No one expected the spanish inquisition... I mean for BY to turn it around like this!  No one!

[Hoenheim]

1 minute ago, countryboi said:

Lord, I wish I’d stop saying this, but Bama is on TV every single week. Even if you hate Bryce this is just not true. 

 

During Bryce’s sophomore year, Bama was exceptionally talented. However, by his junior year, most of his pro level teammates had left, and the team wasn’t nearly as strong. Bryce carried them through several games, showing incredible grit in a murderous SEC. The second-best player on that team was Gibbs.

Makes me wonder how different Bryce may have looked  if he somehow had Gibbs and J.Williams follow him to Carolina . You can watch the Lions and see how insanely explosive they are. Not sure we have players of that caliber right now either 

[countryboi]

2 minutes ago, Hoenheim said:

Makes me wonder how different Bryce may have looked  if he somehow had Gibbs and J.Williams follow him to Carolina . You can watch the Lions and see how insanely explosive they are. Not sure we have players of that caliber right now either 

I wanted Gibbs because I thought he was very similar to McCaffrey and could really help Bryce, but I never thought the lions would draft him that high.
 

I don’t know if he would have the same level success that he’s having with the lions, but I love his skills it.

[Call Me James]

He's had to adjust. Sitting on the sidelines and seeing others do it has certainly helped. Looks like the coaches have been working with him on his mechanics, decision making, and how he should see the field and operate in the NFL and now he's actually doing it instead of over thinking it all the time. 

Let's hope he continues and doesn't regree.

[MillionDollarCam]

28 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

He's much more confident in the pocket and he's keeping his eyes downfield.  He's letting it rip downfield more than he ever has since being drafted.

It’s this.

He went from playing at Alabama in front of an all-pro offensive line every year to being drafted by the Panthers and facing edges, tackles, and linebackers that are bigger, faster, and stronger than he’d ever seen.

Now Bryce was very good under pressure at Bama but he’s never been pressured to the extent that he was in his rookie season. 41% of his drop backs resulted in a pressure; that was the fourth highest pressure rate among QB’s in 2023 with a minimum of 300 passes attempted and really it was the second highest pressure rate among full fledged starters; only Sam Howell was pressured more than Young. Couple that with the fact that neither Reich nor Brown had a good grasp of what they were trying to accomplish, it created a recipe for disaster.

Bryce developed really bad habits during his rookie season and he played scared, everyone could tell he was affected by the pressure because on some throws you could see him basically pull up and turn his shoulder on his follow throughs to avoid getting hit in the chest rather than standing in the pocket and driving the ball down the field. Almost like a golfer doing a half swing.

I hate to use this term but Bryce was suffering from PTSD from his rookie year. He finally seems to be comfortable standing in the pocket now and making the throws.

His internal clock was severely sped up by all the pressure he faced last year and Canales had to sit him down and show him that he can slow everything back down now. Bryce is now going through his reads, he’s on his toes in the pocket, he’s just overall more comfortable knowing that he has time.

For me the big question is this. Can Bryce play this way with an average OL? Right now the Panthers have the most efficient pass blocking OL in the league. Will Bryce regress if the OL regresses? We’ll find out.

 

[Mistuh Jones]

I think it's called Dave Canales earning his damn paycheck. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

11 minutes ago, countryboi said:

Lord, I wish I’d stop saying this, but Bama is on TV every single week. Even if you hate Bryce this is just not true. 

 

During Bryce’s sophomore year, Bama was exceptionally talented. However, by his junior year, most of his pro level teammates had left, and the team wasn’t nearly as strong. Bryce carried them through several games, showing incredible grit in a murderous SEC. The second-best player on that team was Gibbs.

It doesn't matter if they're pro level teammates or not. Bama consistently has one of the top recruiting classes in the country. The best talent is coming to Alabama vs a majority of other schools they play. It is true and it's documented. 

[Khyber53]

36 minutes ago, jfra78 said:

Maybe it was really just watching Dalton trust the oline and push the ball down field, or maybe the game has just slowed down to him. I hope he continues to trend upwards.  I'm still not 100% sold on him but I'm warming up to it, which I never thought would happen

This has a lot to do with it.

He got to see what Dalton did behind that line and how he took control of the situation. Got to watch it happen and then Dalton would come back to the sidelines and the two would talk about it on the bench.

Hate to say it, but it's a lot like screwing up some project as a kid and then watching your Dad do it then have him explain it to you. Then, somehow, it just all starts to make sense. 

Dalton helped him hit that "click" moment. Something he had to go through back in the day, too. 

That benching was the best thing to ever happen to the kid. He'd probably never been benched before in his life. This coach, he might be a really good one.

[CBDellinger]

5 minutes ago, MillionDollarCam said:

It’s this.

He went from playing at Alabama in front of an all-pro offensive line every year to being drafted by the Panthers and facing edges, tackles, and linebackers that are bigger, faster, and stronger than he’d ever seen.

Now Bryce was very good under pressure at Bama but he’s never been pressured to the extent that he was in his rookie season. 41% of his drop backs resulted in a pressure; that was the fourth highest pressure rate among QB’s in 2023 with a minimum of 300 passes attempted and really it was the second highest pressure rate among full fledged starters; only Sam Howell was pressured more than Young. Couple that with the fact that neither Reich nor Brown had a good grasp of what they were trying to accomplish, it created a recipe for disaster.

Bryce developed really bad habits during his rookie season and he played scared, everyone could tell he was affected by the pressure because on some throws you could see him basically pull up and turn his shoulder on his follow throughs to avoid getting hit in the chest rather than standing in the pocket and driving the ball down the field. Almost like a golfer doing a half swing.

I hate to use this term but Bryce was suffering from PTSD from his rookie year. He finally seems to be comfortable standing in the pocket now and making the throws.

His internal clock was severely sped up by all the pressure he faced last year and Canales had to sit him down and show him that he can slow everything back down now. Bryce is now going through his reads, he’s on his toes in the pocket, he’s just overall more comfortable knowing that he has time.

For me the big question is this. Can Bryce play this way with an average OL? Right now the Panthers have the most efficient pass blocking OL in the league. Will Bryce regress if the OL regresses? We’ll find out.

 

Hell yeah... great post.

[MillionDollarCam]

Also I know people like to pile on Morgan but picking up Hunt and Lewis was huge for Bryce.

I’ll also be the first to admit that I wasn’t sold on Joe Gilbert as OL coach. I thought his players in Tampa were making him as a coach. I was dead wrong, he’s got every linemen on this roster at the very least playing NFL caliber football. I don’t remember the last time I could even say those words.

The development of the OL has been huge for the development of Bryce.

[OneBadCat]

I think he needed to see Dalton come in there and just confidently sling the ball. Bryce was overthinking it too much.

[RJK]

Having to earn the job instead of having it handed to him