By Joe Person, Lukas Weese and Larry Holder

The Carolina Panthers are benching 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young for their Week 3 game against the Las Vegas Raiders, a league source confirmed Monday. Andy Dalton will be the Panthers’ new starting quarterback, the league source said.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero was the first to report the news.

The move comes after the Panthers’ second straight loss to open the season, falling 26-3 to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Against the Chargers, Young completed 18 of 26 passes in the 26-3 loss. But those completions were good for just 84 yards, the fourth-lowest passing total in franchise history for a quarterback with at least 25 pass attempts.

After the game, Panthers coach Dave Canales stood up for Young when asked if he would start next week in Las Vegas.

“Bryce is our quarterback,” Canales said. “We’re just going to continue to strengthen and fix the things that we fundamentally need to fix from a scheme standpoint. These are all valuable reps. These are all valuable games. We’re going to learn a lot from this game and hopefully take another step this week.”

Young won’t be in Week 3 as the Panthers’ QB1. The Panthers will go with veteran Dalton, who is in his 14th NFL season and is a three-time Pro Bowler.

In two games, the Panthers scored a total of 13 points. Carolina wants to avoid starting 0-3 against the Raiders for the second straight season next Sunday.

Why now?

As Young struggled through a rookie season that saw him finish as the NFL’s worst-graded passer, the Panthers spent much of their free-agent budget and offseason energy on improving the offensive line and giving Young more playmakers. Despite improved protection, Young has regressed through the first two games with no passing touchdowns, three interceptions and 245 combined passing yards.

Canales risked losing the locker room and the fans if he stuck with Young. During Sunday’s loss to the Chargers, fans booed Young, some wearing bags over their heads and others chanting words of encouragement for owner David Tepper to sell the team. — Joe Person, Panthers reporter

What does Dalton bring?

For starters, an experienced presence who should be able to get Canales and the first-year offensive staff in order. Dalton, 36, started for the Panthers in Week 3 last year in Seattle when Young was sidelined for one game with an ankle injury.

Dalton threw for 361 yards (34 of 58), which was the Panthers’ 2023 high in terms of passing yardage. If anything, bringing in Dalton gives Young a chance to catch his breath, see how a veteran quarterback performs in Canales’ scheme and perhaps regain some confidence. — Person

Figures behind Dalton’s move to QB1

You’d think Young would have bottomed out after Week 1, but his performance in Week 2 was even worse. Young produced his worst EPA per dropback rate of his career, per TruMedia, at -0.69 in the loss to the Chargers. For the season, Young ranks last in the league in EPA per dropback rate at -0.44 and passer rating at 44.1.

It gets worse.

Young ranks last (99 qualified quarterbacks) in total QB EPA of -143.1 and EPA per dropback of -0.24 among quarterbacks in their first 18 starts since 2000.

Dalton at least gives the Panthers a chance on offense. He last started for the Saints in 2022 and posted a respectable 0.02 EPA per dropback ratio to go along with a 95.2 passer rating. But the Saints went just 6-8 with Dalton as QB1 at quarterback. — Larry Holder, NFL Senior Writer

Required reading

(Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)