The Carolina Panthers opened the portion of their offseason program formally known as Organized Team Activities on Tuesday. By NFL rules, the third phase of the program allows 11-on-11 drills for the first time in the offseason (although contact remains prohibited).

“It’s like the beginning of Phase 3 is always a really fun thing,” Carolina quarterback Bryce Young said on Tuesday. “Like, you come back, it’s cool, Phase 1. The rookies come in; you get drafted. It’s a feeling-out process, and you see it on air. I think the first day of Phase 3 is kind of like that mini Christmas before training camp. You know, you’re actually playing football again. It’s full speed. It’s always fun watching the rookies and the young guys just kind of — you start to see it. They see it for the first time. You see them adapt. You see them just coming to assimilate with the team. So I think for all of us, it’s a long offseason and you miss the game, so it’s always fun coming back to full-speed stuff.”

Last year at this time, Young was preparing for his second NFL season by learning the offense of coach Dave Canales. Canales had taken the reins for the Panthers after he had served as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina had won two games in 2024.

After being schooled in the new offensive playbook last offseason, Young feels as though he’s working on an advanced degree in the system this time around.

“I think it’s just being able to build off of the foundation we laid last year,” Young said. “Around this time last year, obviously, it’s a new system, new offense, so we were getting the basics. We were ironing out Day 1, first stuff and just the basics of the offense. And now, Year 2, we get to start so much further ahead. … And for us, a lot of guys, it’s let’s start at a master’s level. Let’s make sure that we’re more advanced.”

Young joined Carolina as the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. After Young started 16 games as a rookie, Canales benched the former Alabama All-American two games into the 2024 campaign. Young spent five games as Andy Dalton’s backup before returning to start the final 10.

In the final three games of the season, Young threw for 612 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns. His passing-efficiency rating was 111.6. Before those games, Young’s career passing-efficiency rating was 73.6.

“My expectation is just wide open, especially as he goes in there with command, like he’s been doing this offseason and really just leading the guys,” Canales said on Tuesday about Young in 2025. “There were some great plays out there, some great timing throws. But also just the level of comfort we talked about with the offense. Knowing the words, making different tweaks, and he’s a part of that process. These are conversations that we’ve been having with him going back to the end of last season that we want to implement and just be able to, especially in the pass game, become Bryce Young Offense, become this collective thing and getting the chemistry going, so I feel really confident about what I saw today, especially going against the defense, just the speed we were playing with.”

While Young called the opening of OTAs “mini Christmas,” he already got his present from the Panthers, who chose Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan at No. 8 in the NFL Draft on April 24. Young lobbied for the pick.

“I’ve played against him in high school,” Young said. “I’ve seen him and followed his career ever since high school, so I’ve always, whether it’s playing against him or from afar, he was always someone that I had a ton of respect for. I loved his game. I’d been around him before that, too. Heard great things. Loved his work ethic. Had seen him live. So just, again, I had a ton of exposure, so I was always kind of following, always kind of looking.

“And, you know, obviously, just us having that opportunity was — I’m super grateful. Obviously, I trusted coach Canales and (general manager) Dan (Morgan) with the decision. They were going to do what was best for the team. And they obviously felt that that was what was best. And, obviously for me, it was music to my ears.”

McMillan joins Carolina’s top three wide receivers from 2024 – Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker. The Panthers also added former 1,000-yard receiver Hunter Renfrow as a free agent and Colorado wide receiver Jimmy Horn in the sixth round of the draft on April 26.

“It’s a really dynamic group,” Young said, “them coming in and bringing great energy, great depth. Again, this is kind of the first day where you get to see it live and see it in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7. But even on air, you could tell. And all the guys, they want to work.”

The Panthers have eight days of practice remaining on their offseason schedule before starting their summer break until training camp.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.