When Carolina hired Dave Canales to take over the team that was the worst in the NFL last year with a 2-15 record, the obvious reaction was, “Well, there’s only way to go from here.”

No.

The Panthers have managed to fade in their first two games of 2024, and that’s especially true at the quarterback position, where former No. 1 pick Bryce Young has gotten worse in all aspects. Carolina trailed the Saints 30-0 at halftime in the opener, then lost 26-3 to the Chargers in Week 2.

As a result, Canales decided to bench Young and insert experienced Andy Dalton as the starter. The decision came as a surprise to many, especially considering Canales had given Young a vote of confidence following Sunday’s loss.

“This is the best decision for our group, for our team, for the future,” Canales said Monday morning when he announced the change.

Young, despite his rookie struggles, was perhaps the Panthers’ best remaining hope for rebounding and eventual success. When making as big an investment as Carolina did, the most important priority is developing the young quarterback into a future star. And now, just two games into his second season, Young has lost his starting spot, a devastating and humiliating decision for a franchise that has done so much wrong in recent years.

Carolina didn’t have its pick of the best prospects in its recruiting process this spring, and the best argument for Canales being a good choice was his well-earned reputation for turning around quarterbacks. Over the past two years, he helped Geno Smith in Seattle and Baker Mayfield in Tampa get back on their feet.

Andy Dalton was not the turnaround the Panthers had in mind to continue this trend.

Dalton turns 37 next month and played well in a single spot start last year when Young was injured, throwing for 361 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to the Seahawks. By comparison, in 18 career starts, Young has thrown for more than 250 yards once and has thrown multiple touchdowns in a game just twice.

The Panthers will say this isn’t a permanent change, but that time on the bench can help Young gather himself, find some confidence and be better prepared for the starting role when he returns. Maybe they can do that, but if that’s the goal, do they even want Dalton to play well, to be the spark that Young could be for a team still searching for a new identity?

Today’s NFL practically forces teams that don’t have a franchise quarterback to overpay just to have a chance to get one, and that’s exactly what a desperate Panthers team did in 2023. Chicago got an incredible windfall for Young: receiver DJ Moore, the pick that went No. 1 with quarterback Caleb Williams this year, plus picks that brought in a starting tackle in Darnell Wright and a cornerback in Tyrique Stevenson, who already has a pick-six this season. And the Panthers aren’t done paying that bill yet, because Chicago is getting Carolina’s 2025 second-round pick, which will almost certainly be a top-40 pick.

That the Texans, who picked second last year, took a slam dunk in CJ Stroud didn’t help Young, who is constantly compared to a quarterback who was picked later but was ahead in almost every other way. Stroud has an 11-6 record as a starter and has already led Houston to a division title and a playoff win. Even more is expected in year two. As if that wasn’t enough, Carolina can only watch as two quarterbacks they had cheap in 2022, Mayfield and Sam Darnold, have combined for 46 touchdowns since leaving the Panthers. Both lead the Bucs and Vikings, respectively, to impressive starts in 2024, at 2-0.

Last October, Bryce Young and the Panthers beat CJ Stroud and the Texans 15-13 to earn the No. 1 pick’s first NFL win. He has only won one more since. (Photo by David Jensen/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Before the decision to bench Young, it was a fair question whether the Panthers would win a single game in 2024. Their best player, defensive tackle Derrick Brown, went down in Week 1 with a season-ending injury, so the defense has taken a step back. The offense ranks dead last in the NFL at 176 yards per game — somehow 89 yards worse than the league-low mark set in 2023 — and the defense gives up a league-wide 36 points per game, 12 more than last year.

Dalton started 14 games for the 2022 Saints just two years ago, throwing 18 touchdowns to nine interceptions and posting a 6-8 record as a starter. Perhaps his veteran leadership will give the rest of the team a chance to develop faster — a young receiver corps hasn’t shown much in two games, but no one on this team has.

Panthers owner David Tepper is known for his impatience with his head coaches, parting ways with Matt Rhule and then Frank Reich mid-season last year, so Canales was hoping he would have more wiggle room to turn things around and more time to stick around long enough to see better days with the Panthers. That could still be the case, but if the franchise has now moved on from a No. 1 pick, how long will the owners hang on to a third-round coach who couldn’t turn that pick into the player he was supposed to be?

Carolina’s road doesn’t get any easier. They travel to face a Raiders team that just beat the Ravens, then return home to face a Bengals team that almost beat the Chiefs. And then, almost cruelly, they head to Chicago in Week 5 and face a Bears team whose foundation is built on the trade that brought Young to the Panthers.

If Carolina wins the game with him on the bench, is it even a win?

It was clear from the start that it was going to be a long year for the Panthers. Some national pundits predicted they would finish ahead of the Saints, and even that bold prediction of a third-place finish seemed foolish before halfway through the first game of the year. Now Canales must regroup and move on without the optimism that comes with a young, improving quarterback. The rookie head coach’s tireless energy and positive attitude would be tested in this job, and it was already harder than expected.

This has to be the lowest point, right?

Greg Auman is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously covered the Buccaneer for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

(Want great stories delivered straight to your inbox? Create or log in to a FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized daily newsletter.)

Get more out of the National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more