CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Andy Dalton will start for the Carolina Panthers in Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders after Bryce Young was benched.
Young failed to throw a touchdown in the season's first two games and accounted for only 245 yards passing as the team was outscored by a combined score of 73-13.
Young was expected to have a better start to the season after a lackluster rookie season in 2023. First-year head coach Dave Canales boasted about the team's improvement in the offseason and Young's work ethic. But after two weeks of substandard play, Canales had seen enough and decided to make the change.
It's certainly not the first time a starting quarterback has been benched. The Panthers have sidelined starting quarterbacks several times in the preceding three decades. Carolina prospered after sitting some of these signal-callers while the team struggled in other years after the change was made.
Rodney Peete out, Jake Delhomme in (2003)
One of the most obvious cases of a team succeeding after swapping to another quarterback was the 2003 Carolina Panthers.
Journeyman Rodney Peete signed with the Panthers in his 14th NFL season in 2002 and went 7-7 in 14 starts for the team. It was the most games he started in a season during his career.
Peete had a dreadful preseason in 2003, especially compared to the newly signed Jake Delhomme. Head coach John Fox stuck with Peete as the starter for Week 1 because of Peete's experience, but that decision lasted just two quarters into the 2003 regular season.
The Panthers fell behind 17-0 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1. Peete had just 19 yards passing and was sacked three times.
Fox replaced the then-37-year-old Peete with Delhomme and never looked back. Delhomme guided the Panthers to a comeback win over the Jaguars, an 11-5 record, and an appearance in that season's Super Bowl. Delhomme became Carolina's franchise quarterback for the remainder of the decade and Peete threw just one more pass in his career.
Kerry Collins sidelined one year, benches himself the next year (1997, 1998)
The Kerry Collins saga is an unfortunate case of "what could have been" for the Panthers. Collins, the first draft pick in Panthers history, was christened to be the team's first franchise quarterback.
Collins led Carolina to the 1996 NFC Championship game in its second season. This left few people anticipating the harsh decline Collins would face the next two seasons.
Collins missed the first two games of 1997 with an injury but did not improve once he returned to the field. He threw eight interceptions and lost two fumbles in his three starts after coming back. Collins was benched in favor of Steve Beuerlein in the third game.
Beuerlein started the following game but Collins was given the starting job back just one week later. Collins' performance did not greatly improve but he started the team's final 10 games as the Panthers finished 7-9.
The Panthers sank to 0-4 to start the following season with Collins as the starter. He told then-head coach Dom Capers that he wasn't motivated enough to play anymore. The Panthers waived Collins soon after.
Collins' tenure in Carolina was plagued by alcohol issues, confidence struggles, and taunting from Panthers fans. He turned his career around after leaving the Panthers and started in the Super Bowl with the New York Giants just two seasons later and did not retire until 2011.
Jake Delhomme era ends (2009)
The same Jake Delhomme who took the Panthers starting job in 2003 was sent to the sidelines with an injury just six years later that turned out to be the end of his time in Carolina.
The Panthers slumped to a 4-7 start in 2009 with Delhomme throwing 18 interceptions to eight touchdowns. His final start came in a four-interception loss to the New York Jets in Week 11.
A broken finger left Delhomme on the bench for the next three weeks but the Panthers weren't eager to bring him back on the field as his replacement, Matt Moore, put Carolina back in winning mode.
The Panthers went 4-1 to finish the season with Moore in the starting role. Moore threw eight touchdowns to just one interception in his five starts. Delhomme was placed on injured reserve and never played another down for the Panthers.
Moore's fortunes flipped after he was given the starting job to start the 2010 season. Moore was benched after two games as the Panthers finished with an NFL-worst 2-14 record.
Delhomme finished his career with stints in Cleveland and Houston but could never regain the franchise-record-setting magic he achieved with the Panthers.
Sam Darnold, Cam Newton benched in the same season (2021)
The Panthers traded for former No. 2 overall pick Sam Darnold in 2021 hoping to turn around his career.
Darnold and the Panthers started the season 3-0 and looked to be in for a winning season. The team then lost four straight games with star running back Christian McCaffrey sidelined with an injury.
The Panthers benched Darnold during a 25-3 loss to the Giants, leaving his starting spot in jeopardy just seven games into the season.
Darnold kept the starting role for three more weeks but an injury sidelined him for the following five weeks. P.J. Walker started one game for Darnold before the team turned to franchise great Cam Newton. The Panthers signed Newton in the middle of the season after he was released by the New England Patriots.
Newton lost his first start in 2021 before a dreadful performance led to him being benched the following week against the Miami Dolphins.
Newton started three games for the Panthers, the last of which came when Darnold was healthy to return. The Panthers turned back to Darnold for the season's final two games.
Carolina lost its last seven games to finish 5-12. Newton lost all five of his starts and never played in the NFL again. Darnold played with the Panthers in 2022 before playing with San Francisco and Minnesota.
The revolving door of 2022
A year after the Sam Darnold trial, Baker Mayfield was traded to the Panthers for a second chance at his career.
Mayfield won the starting job with Darnold suffering an injury in the preseason. The Panthers fell to a 1-4 record before an injury kept Mayfield off the field for two weeks.
With Darnold and Mayfield out, Walker returned and gave the Panthers an improbable win over the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers. Walker kept the starting role even when Mayfield returned from injury the following week.
After a poor showing against Cincinnati, Walker was benched in favor of Mayfield. The Panthers gave Mayfield one more start against Baltimore but he requested to be waived after another bad performance.
The Panthers turned to Darnold to start the final six games, with Carolina going 4-2 in that span.
Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen trade spots (2010)
The name Jimmy Clausen might give Panthers fans PTSD. Clausen was quickly given a starting job after being drafted in the second round of the 2010 draft.
Moore started the season under center after an impressive end to 2009 but it was evident early on that things were not going to work in 2010.
Moore completed just 40.8% of his passes and committed six turnovers in the team's first two games. The Panthers benched Moore in Week 2 and let Clausen start the next two games.
But Clausen did not fair much better and was benched during his second start in favor of Moore.
The Panthers let Moore start the next three games before an injury knocked him out for the rest of the season.
Clausen started seven of the last eight games for the Panthers that season, throwing just two touchdowns and never more than 200 yards in a game as Carolina finished 2-14. Clausen's only career win came against Arizona in Week 15.
Brian St. Pierre, possibly the most obscure starting quarterback in Panthers history, started in place of an injured Clausen in Week 11. Things were so bleak for the Panthers in 2010 that somebody named Tony Pike threw 12 passes for Carolina in a loss to the Saints.
Dalton replaces Young (2024)
It remains to be seen what will come of the quarterback change in Carolina's 30th season. Will the Panthers go on a run with Dalton and stick with the Red Rifle? Or will Young regain the starting job after some time on the bench? We'll find out the next part in this saga on Sunday.