During Frank Reich’s 12 seasons as an NFL quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator and head coach, the leading passers on his teams have been Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett and Matt Ryan. The shortest of those quarterbacks stood 6-foot-4.

Now the coach of the Carolina Panthers, Reich will work with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft this season.

The Panthers traded up from No. 9 to get the No. 1 selection from the Chicago Bears and are targeting a quarterback to lead the franchise forward.

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Based on press conferences held on Monday by Reich and Carolina general manager Scott Fitterer, the Panthers are considering four quarterbacks for the No. 1 choice. But they said they were still evaluating Kentucky’s Will Levis, Florida’s Anthony Richardson, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and Alabama’s Bryce Young.

“We’re still going through the process right now,” Fitterer said. “Obviously, we have our ideas. You’re not going to make a move like that without having that pretty much cemented. Now we’re going through the process of talking to the players and really getting to know them. You know them as players starting back a couple of years when your scouts start watching these guys, evaluating them. We had a snapshot at the (NFL Scouting) Combine where you get 18 minutes talking to them. But really we want to get to know them – what drives them, who’s supporting them, who’s in their family — so this is an important time to go through this process. But we do feel good about the group up top.”

Efforts to gain insight into what the Panthers might do with the No. 1 pick have noted Reich’s connection to tall quarterbacks and the heights of the four under consideration. At the combine, Levis and Richardson measured 6-4, Stroud came in at 6-3 and Young sent up red flags at 5-10.125.

Balancing the black mark against Young is Fitterer’s association with Russell Wilson. The Carolina GM was Seattle’s director of college scouting when the Seahawks took the 5-11 Wisconsin quarterback in the third round of the 2012 draft and got a nine-time Pro Bowler.

Unprompted, Reich brought up Wilson on Monday.

“I don’t mind telling you I had a high grade on Russell Wilson,” Reich said. “But don’t read anything into it. I’m just saying it because all these people are putting this label on me that I only work with big quarterbacks. Don’t read anything into that.”

Reich said height was only one characteristic that needed to be taken into consideration when evaluating quarterbacks.

“You look at everything – every trait that a guy has – and you weigh it,” Reich said. “The thing is if there’s 10 categories that you look at in a quarterback or any player for that matter, the real question is not how to evaluate each of those categories. That’s part of the question. But the big part of the question is: How much are you going to weight each of those categories?

“Everything’s a factor, but ultimately it comes down to being a playmaker, being a guy who can make plays all over the field, and that happens a lot of different way.”

Asked how much weight he puts on height, Reich said: “That would be like giving the proprietary formula of Kentucky Fried Chicken, right? … That’s what’s unique about each club. We all weight it slightly different.”

Fitterer said Reich had not indicated that he has a minimum stature requirement for the quarterback pick.

“He’s never put that label out to me: Hey, I need this, this and this,” Fitterer said. “He needs to be this tall. His hands need to be this big. He’s never put that out to us. It’s like: Who plays the position the best? Who’s going to give us the best opportunity to win?”

When asked how many of the four he thought had what it took to be the No. 1 pick, Reich laughed, then said, “Like really? That’s a funny question.”

But he added: “I think they all have really good traits. I’m excited about all of them. And Scott and I – and all kidding aside – we were having a conversation. I love this for the NFL. We got four guys that are going to make an impact in this league. I do believe all four of these guys will make an impact in this league, so I’m excited to see them, excited to see how that plays out. Every one of them will have a different journey.”

Fitterer and Reich expressed a shared opinion that the quarterback to be named on April 27 in Kansas City, Missouri, would enter a situation where he could play as the previously missing piece on a talented team and not have to shoulder the burden of carrying the offense.

Fitterer noted the recent free-agent acquisitions of running back Miles Sanders, tight end Hayden Hurst and wide receiver Adam Thielen and the re-signing of center Bradley Bozeman, a former Alabama standout.

“If you’re going to go with a young quarterback, you have to have a running back, you have to have the tight end, you have to have the receivers,” Fitterer said. “We feel like we have the offensive line. Brought back Bozeman. Kind of cemented that starting five.”

Reich said the Panthers would draft a playmaker who would have the teammates to showcase that ability.

“Really feel like we’re putting this guy in a good position with some of the pieces that we’ve signed,” Reich said. “… Everybody wants a leader; everybody wants a playmaker. Those are general terms that you hear about the quarterback, and certainly true of what we’re looking for, and I feel like we’re putting pieces in place where he can walk in and be ready to go.”

Fitterer said the rookie QB would be in good hands with Reich and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, who have a combined 31 seasons of experience as NFL quarterbacks, and senior assistant Jim Caldwell, who has 18 seasons as an NFL quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator and head coach.

Reich added Andy Dalton to the list of mentors. The Panthers signed Dalton last week to be their backup quarterback in 2023, bringing aboard a three-time Pro Bowler who started the first 133 games of his NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals.

“Andy Dalton was brought here to win football games,” Reich said, “because if you’re going to win a championship, it shows. You need a backup quarterback who’s going to impact that, so excited about that. But we are excited about that fact that he played as a rookie, so he has a perspective that Josh and I don’t have in that regard. He’s got a maturity about him. Competitor. I think it’s going to be a great dynamic.”

Dalton is 6-2. Both Reich and McCown are 6-4.

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