Peyton Manning thinks several NFL franchises, including the Carolina Panthers, have done their young quarterbacks a disservice in recent years.
In an appearance on the “This is Football” podcast, Manning said it “bothers” him that Panthers QB Bryce Young is already on his third playcaller in two seasons. Manning considers that a failure on the Panthers’ part, and worries that the Chicago Bears are moving in the same direction with Caleb Williams.
“It bothers me that Bryce Young is already on his third playcaller, and he’s only played two seasons. Caleb Williams is going to be on his third playcaller sometime next September. To me, that’s a miss,” Manning said. “If we’re going to draft this guy, okay, who’s the head coach going to be? The coordinator, this is the system we’re going to run. If the coordinator leaves and takes a head coaching job, I want the guy that’s replacing him shadowing him 24/7. … I want them there the whole time so the quarterback doesn’t have to learn a new system every single year.
“I think Baker Mayfield had to learn five systems in four years. Alex Smith, six systems in six years. Tom Brady had the same system his whole career. I had the same system my first 14 years in Indy.”
Young finally seemed to put it together toward the end of the season under first-year head coach Dave Canales, so things are trending in the right direction there. Williams has openly said he’d like to see the Bears hire an offensive coach, but generally wants to be challenged. Some stability would presumably be nice, too.
Manning’s criticism is not necessarily new. It will also probably fall on deaf ears as organizations continue to make swift changes when things don’t go according to plan, but some would probably do well to take note of Manning’s wisdom.
