CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was once the primary month of the Indianapolis Colts’ 2012 offseason workout routines and Bruce Arians was once wearing all lightless, from his socks to his signature Kangol hat. That didn’t walk neglected through the defensive backs because the offensive coordinator purposely took a detour throughout the center of them on his solution to the ground.

“They said, ‘Coach, what’s up with all the black? Whose funeral you going to?'” Arians recalled with a snicker. “I said, ‘Y’all’s. Andrew Luck killed your ass yesterday.’

“All of them fell i’m sick guffawing, however they knew they’d one thing upcoming.”

As a rookie quarterback, Luck, the No. 1 overall draft pick that year, led the Colts to an 11-5 record and the playoffs.

That’s notable because among the 29 quarterbacks selected with the No. 1 pick since 1967, Luck is the only one to win more than half of his games as a rookie. Quarterbacks taken No. 1 in the past 45 drafts are a combined 94-206-2 in games they started in Year 1.

Bleak.

That’s the outlook Bryce Young, who was selected No. 1 overall by the Carolina Panthers in April, faces as he prepares for Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Saints at Bank of America Stadium (7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN2).

He is already 0-1, having thrown two interceptions in a 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in his NFL debut.

“The Incorrect. 1 select within the draft most often is going to one of the vital s—tiest groups within the league,” reminded Arians, who additionally coached Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

“If he doesn’t get beat all to crap like [No. 1 picks] David Carr and Tim Couch, they have a chance. But you’ve got to be lucky.”

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YOUNG HAS TALKED to enough former quarterbacks, including Cam Newton, the No. 1 overall pick by the Panthers in 2011, to realize the past is littered with stories of failure — at least in terms of wins.

“The general product and awards and big-picture objectives, there’s not anything incorrect with that,” mentioned Younger, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner out of Alabama. “Kind of the one universal thing that they’ve said is just focus on the process and take things one day at a time.”

Young also knows his career won’t be defined by what happens this season.

History supports that. Seven of the top picks who had losing records as rookies went on to win a combined 16 Super Bowls and eight Super Bowl MVPs.

Four — Terry Bradshaw, John Elway, Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning — are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after going a combined 10-35 as rookies.

Newton and Joe Burrow, the supremacy select of the 2020 draft through the Cincinnati Bengals, every went on to begin in a Tremendous Bowl. Newton was once 6-10 as a rookie however was once named NFL MVP in 2015. Burrow’s rookie season ended next 10 video games (2-7-1) because of torn knee ligaments, however he returned to manage the Bengals to Tremendous Bowl LVI the then season.

“Really, it was just hearing what he had to say about being focused, making sure you live your life and have things outside of football,” Young said of his conversation with Newton, Carolina’s winningest quarterback. “He mentioned simply to focal point and simply to fasten in and do all you’ll for the staff, which is one thing this is very acceptable to me.”

What Newton and lots of the alternative supremacy choices had was once self assurance. That doesn’t heartless they didn’t attempt with failure. It simply method they didn’t surrender on themselves when instances have been difficult.

Arians noticed it in Success; he noticed it in Manning as his quarterback professor all the way through his 3-13 rookie season in Indianapolis; and he already sees it in Younger.

“There’s an inner confidence that ‘I know I can do this and I’m going to do this,'” Arians mentioned. “There’s a will to win that they push on everybody else.

“They by no means get shaken. They’re getting higher and higher each and every moment in observe, and upcoming you get started placing items round him. That’s key.”

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DESPITE STARTING 0-2, Newton handed for greater than 400 yards in every of his first two NFL video games and gave the Panthers a anticipation to win.

That was once gigantic for a quarterback recognized extra for his working than passing in faculty.

“I don’t think Cam ever had doubts, especially after that first game,” said Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera, who coached Newton with the Panthers. “He performed so smartly that it gave him self assurance that despite how difficult it was once moving to be for us, he may do that.

“Now, if he hadn’t played well at the beginning and we were getting the crap kicked out of us, it would have been hard for him. And he might have doubted himself.”

Younger struggled in his first get started, finishing 52.6% of his passes for 146 yards, one landing and two interceptions.

“It’s not always easy,” said Eli Manning, the top pick of the 2004 draft, who bounced back from a 1-6 rookie season to win two Super Bowls and two Super Bowl MVPs. “However are you difficult mentally, difficult bodily, are you an identical next a win as a loss?”

Carolina professor Frank Reich noticed that toughness in Younger next the outlet loss.

“Mental toughness, resilience,” he said. “Bryce has the ones qualities. He’s stressed that manner.”

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ELI MANNING DIDN’T get started for the Giants till halfway thru his rookie season. Having posted a zero.0 passer score in what was once his fourth instantly loss, he met with offensive coordinator John Hufnagel and advised him one thing needed to exchange.

“I said here are my eight favorite plays that I ran the most during training camp that were similar to plays I ran in college,” Eli recalled.

“I said I feel good about them, I know I can get through my progressions, I can find completions and just get my confidence back.”

The Giants lost the next week to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but Eli showed improvement and finished with a passer rating of 103.9.

“Hastily you’ve were given that really feel of what it’s intended to appear to be,” he mentioned. “The goal is to always win the game, that never changes. But it’s about getting that experience.”

Eli doesn’t see Young getting to that point because the Carolina offense has been catered to him from the start. He also likes that Young came from an Alabama program that ran a pro-style offense.

“The extra within the faculty scheme and NFL scheme isn’t as gigantic of an opening because it was once twenty years in the past when I used to be popping out,” he mentioned. “It’s still hard to say what’s going to be a success for him. It’s just a matter of playing every game, getting reps, making some great plays, making some mistakes and learning from those mistakes.”

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ELI’S BROTHER PEYTON, the top pick in 1998, had his defining rookie moment during a Week 2 loss to the New England Patriots. He had three interceptions and a lost fumble that had him begging Arians to pull him out of the game.

Arians’ response: “Incorrect manner! Get again in there.”

He upcoming advised Peyton they have been going no-huddle. That put the previous Tennessee celebrity in a reassurance zone, and he straight away led the Colts to a landing.

“So we got some positives out of it,” Arians recalled.

Peyton’s ability to process, particularly out of the shotgun, showed Arians success would come. He sees that in Young, too.

Peyton led the Colts to a 13-3 record his second season. He finished his career with a 186-79 record, two Super Bowl victories and a Super Bowl MVP.

His story is much like that of 1989 top pick Aikman, who went 0-11 his rookie season for the Dallas Cowboys before winning three Super Bowls and a Super Bowl MVP.

“Peyton, he modified the entire franchise,” Arians mentioned. “It was a remarkable turnaround, but even he’ll admit there were some big-time lows in that first year. You’ve just got to hang with them.”

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THE PAST FIVE quarterbacks to go No. 1 before Young were a combined 22-48 as rookies.

Trevor Lawrence was 3-14 for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021, Burrow 2-7-1 for the Bengals in 2020, Kyler Murray 5-11-1 for the Arizona Cardinals in 2019, Baker Mayfield 6-7 for the Cleveland Browns in 2018, and Jameis Winston 6-10 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2015.

Lawrence and Burrow bounced back, but Murray is 25-31 as a starter; Mayfield is with his fourth team and is 32-38 as a starter; and Winston, who will be on the opposite sideline Monday as the backup for the Saints, has a 34-46 record between Tampa and New Orleans.

Each understands what Young faces this season.

“Quarterback is among the toughest positions to play games in sports activities, particularly for him popping out as a Incorrect. 1 select,” Mayfield said. “He’s looking to translate what he is aware of he’s perfect at, however on the identical generation, command a store room filled with grown-ass males.

“It’s a challenge. Bryce has a great head on his shoulders. I have no doubt that he’s going to have a long career.”

Lawrence overcame his rookie season struggles (12 TDs, 17 INTs) to walk 9-8 utmost season (25 TDs, 8 INTs).

Requested what luck looks as if for a Incorrect. 1 select who performs quarterback, he laughed and mentioned, “Oh, man, might be asking the wrong guy.”

That’s because Lawrence’s rookie coach, Urban Meyer, was fired after 13 games. Lawrence is now surrounded by a more stable staff led by coach Doug Pederson, a former NFL quarterback — just like Young, who is coached by former NFL quarterback Reich.

Lawrence said Young needs to manage expectations.

“It doesn’t in point of fact topic what alternative family assume you must do otherwise you’re moving to do,” Lawrence mentioned. “At the end of the day, as long as the guys in the locker room trust you and have faith in you, and you keep getting better every day, that’s what success looks like.

“I do know Bryce a tiny bit. He’s moving to just do positive. However no doubt a finding out enjoy.”

Few know that higher than Matthew Stafford, the supremacy select in 2009 through the Detroit Lions. He was once 74-90-1 in 12 seasons with a company many noticed as dysfunctional, sooner than being traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.

He went 12-5 and gained the Tremendous Bowl his first season there.

“This is the opportunity to learn what throws you can make, what throws you can’t make, learn about your teammates, what it’s like to play in the NFL,” Stafford said. “Who is aware of what it’s moving to be for a few of these guys, however I realize it’s an important begin to a groovy proceed. I’m hoping they embody it, love each and every slight of it.

“It’s not going to be easy. Never is. But that’s the fun part of it.”

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FUN IS RELATIVE. Young didn’t look like he had much fun in the opener, but he never showed frustration or got down on himself.

Arians said that will pay off.

“Have a look at what Trevor Lawrence goes to be now in Jacksonville,” he said. “The primary life, you throw that away. A catastrophe. Now with Doug Pederson and everyone this is there, he’s moving to blossom.

“What you’re looking for is improvement. It’s not like you’re just going to walk out here and turn the whole thing around in a day.”

Reich assuredly, noting luck for Younger, on a staff with 5 instantly dropping seasons, might be slow in journey, management and taking possession of the offense.

“A lot of people say he’s been in these winning programs his whole life [and had it easy],” Reich mentioned. “Still, within those seasons, he’s been through ups and downs.

“He’s stressed and ready to care for the ups and downs of a rookie season within the NFL.”

ESPN NFL Community newshounds Sarah Barshop, Michael DiRocco and Jenna Laine contributed to this tale.