Andy Dalton is a big fantasy football upgrade for Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen

In a surprise move, the Carolina Panthers benched former No. 1 first-round pick Bryce Young on Monday and announced that veteran Andy Dalton will start this week against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Although coach Dave Canales has repeatedly said, “Bryce is our quarterback,” the Panthers don’t seem to want any more of this season to go by.

This has significant fantasy football implications for Panthers wide receivers Adam Thielen and Diontae Johnson, as well as Dalton himself.

For those in superflex leagues operating without Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love, Andy Dalton becomes an immediate target as a streaming option until they return.

Dalton's best days may be behind him, but he should still improve on the second-year playmaker. Young has a 55.4% completion rate this season (31st behind Caleb Williams) and a 44.1 passer rating (35th). In his two starts, he has 245 passing yards, no passing touchdowns and three interceptions.

According to SportRadar, only 57.1% of Young's passes were catchable this season.

Andy Dalton has a career save percentage of 68% and a career completion percentage of 62.5%. He also has a passing touchdown percentage of 4.5%, ranking sixth among all active players.

Those who have added Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen to their roster should be optimistic.

Diontae Johnson only had a 67% catch rate in 2023 with a combination of Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky. However, he was still able to average 4 catches and 55 yards per game. However, when he played with Ben Roethlisberger in 2021, Johnson was able to gain 1,181 yards on nearly seven catches and 73 yards per game. 70% of Roethlisberger's passes were considered catchable this season.

Johnson leads this team with 12 targets, but hasn't been able to do much for his fantasy managers, managing just 34 yards in his first two games of the season. With the Panthers' defense doing them no favors, Johnson should have plenty of targets with Andy Dalton.

Adam Thielen should also get a boost.

In his only start with Carolina in 20223, Dalton targeted Adam Thielen 14 times for 145 yards and a score. Thielen finished the week as the WR3 in PPR scoring, while Dalton finished as the QB7.

Panthers offensive coordinator Brad Idzik and head coach Dave Canales had success with Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans in Tampa Bay. There is hope they can do even more in Carolina with Andy Dalton at quarterback.