Frank discussion on top QB prospects with Panthers head coach: Is it revealing?

By Frank Cooney, NFLDraftScout.com

Responsive image Mar 1, 2023; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Carolina Panthers coach Frank Reich speaks to the press at the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

With all eyes on the NFL Draft that begins April 27, Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich is On The Clock with the first pick in the 2023 player lottery.

The Panthers are one of least nine NFL teams seeking a franchise quarterback, but when they traded up from No. 9, it put Reich and general manager Scott Fitterer on the hot seat with the pick of the litter.

This is where careers are made ... or not.

Odds-on favorites are Ohio State's C. J. Stroud and Alabama's Bryce Young, but at the NFL Meetings in Phoenix,  Reich delicately sidestepped revealing a favorite and made sure to add Kentucky's Will Levis and Florida's Anthony Richardson to the conversation.

At the end of the college season, Young was generally touted as the best with Stroud at No. 2. At the combine, Young measured 5-10 1/8, shorter than expected. Richardson, meanwhile, checked in at 6-4, 224, and set combine position records with a 40.5-inch vertical and 10-foot, five-inch broad jumps. His 40-yard time of 4.43 seconds was also impressive at that size.

Reich had an interesting, rather complex, take on Young's diminutive size and concerns about durability. The depth of his observations may indicate his measure of concern. Same might be said of his elaborate observations on Richardson.  

"'The best ability is availability' is the old adage," Reich said, referring to Young. "The height thing, there’s indicators you can look for to see how much of a factor that is ... how much is being 5-10 an issue to him? How good can he see? …  But what you can measure also is what is a guy’s durability? And that’s a big issue. And how do you project that into the NFL where every week it’s playing the best of the best.

"I played with (or coached) guys that were smaller for their position that had a great ability to stay healthy. Marvin Harrison as a receiver just had this incredible ability to never take big hits. I played with Barry Sanders. He had this knack of not taking the big hits … I think he’s good at being instinctive in the pocket and minimizing – if you’re a quarterback, can you minimize the number of hits you’re taking and the intensity of those hits? Because you’re gonna get hit, we all know that."

Coaches and scouts rave about Young's focus, character, football IQ and leadership. Reich says these are critical factors for a franchise quarterback.

"Character is a huge deal," he said. "We kind of talk about two types of character. We talk about just general character: integrity, humility — just things we would talk about for any job, right? For the media — any job. So, just general character qualities.

“Then we also talk about football character … it is a combination of those two things ... So that’s just going to be part of our formula — high-character players. And we’re going to want guys that have high football intelligence. And because of our experiences, they figure it out. You’ve got to be a problem solver — you’re going to come up against things that are harder than you thought. And we’ve got to figure this out together.”

Now back to concerns about size.

"How many guys at that size have (become) superstars as undersized quarterbacks?" he said. "There are some, like Drew Brees and so on and so forth, and it all goes back to that recipe.

"How important is that to us as an organization? ... Is that a consideration? Absolutely, that’s a consideration. It’s also a consideration (with) his play-making ability, his accuracy, his leadership, his instincts — it’s the same thing with C.J. (Stroud), (Will) Levis, (Anthony) Richardson — all of those guys. You look at every single one of those things, and it’s a sliding scale on how you evaluate them.”

When asked specifically about Richardson, Reich was not at a loss for words.

“He’s an exciting player," the coach said. "Even before the combine — watching his tape — there are plays and throws all over the tape that scream top pick — top of the draft pick. And that’s a credit to him. I think he has upper-body mechanics that are really solid.

"Obviously, his completion percentage is lower than you’d want at this level, but I don’t get too discouraged at things like that. I see a lot of upside. Talking to him a little bit at the combine, you could tell how smart of a guy he is. And a guy like that — without getting totally into it — the experience he gets, he’s a guy that you feel like is going to get better fast.”

So, who are the Panthers going top take? Draw your own conclusions.

Other Recent Stories

Updated NFL Transactions for every team

  Transactions updated as of 6-8-2023 NOTE: The number in parentheses for each team’s non-tendered free agents is the games played/games started for that team ...

read the full story

2023 Draft: 14 QBs selected but DBs most popular with 56

With the red carpet rolled up, the showpiece Lombardi Trophies back on their shelf and barbecue chewed to the bones, Kansas City returned to its version of normalcy ...

read the full story

243 High Schools Have Players Selected In 2023 NFL Draft

With the conclusion of the 2023 NFL Draft, this year’s class of drafted rookies will soon experience life in the NFL. While each drafted rookie enters the NFL from ...

read the full story

Lott IMPACT Trophy: 42-man watch list announced

NEWPORT BEACH, CA. – The Pacific Club IMPACT® Foundation announced the 42 candidates for the 2023 Lott IMPACT® ...

read the full story

2023 CFB Transfer Portal: WR Zakhari Franklin tops list of 2,600 prospects

The college football transfer portal, which was closed for new entrants April 30, holds approximately 2,600 players. If anyone wanted to play next season, they had ...

read the full story

Latest Player Notes

Arkansas Jaheim Singletary

Mar 08, 2023: Arkansas coach Sam Pittman announced the signing of former Georgia cornerback Jaheim Singletary during a Tuesday news conference. ...

Ohio State Mitchell Melton

Mar 09, 2023: Defensive lineman Mitchell Melton has been medically cleared to participate in individual drills for Ohio State during spring ...

Texas Quinn Ewers

Mar 09, 2023: Every position is open for the Texas Longhorns this spring. Every player will earn his starting role. For that reason, Quinn ...

Texas Tech Cade Briggs

Mar 09, 2023: Backup offensive lineman Cade Briggs, who played in two games last season, was removed from the Texas Tech roster on Tuesday. ...

Washington Dylan Morris

Mar 09, 2023: Dylan Morris came under heavy criticism as the starting quarterback for the Washington Huskies during their 4-8 season in ...

South Florida Gerry Bohanon

Mar 09, 2023: Almost three months to the day after his hiring, new USF coach Alex Golesh staged the first spring practice of his tenure ...

Washington Edefuan Ulofoshio

Mar 10, 2023: On the first day of his last year of college football, Edefuan Ulofoshio was back in the middle of it all Monday morning ...

Washington State Isaiah Paul

Mar 10, 2023: Two months after joining Washington State's football team, Isaiah Paul is heading back to the portal. The senior linebacker, ...

Southern California Eric Gentry

Mar 10, 2023: Linebacker Eric Gentry will miss all of spring practice following ankle surgery last month, Riley said. Gentry suffered a ...

Ohio State Jack Sawyer

Mar 07, 2023: Where is Jack Sawyer? The former five-star recruit never really took that Year 2 jump some may have anticipated. His raw ...