CHARLOTTE—When Austin Corbett was rehabbing from back-to-back knee injuries in 2023, spending months on the sideline and not knowing when he'd actually be back with his team, the offensive lineman had ample time on his hands.

There were still meetings to be a part of and practices to attend, but the in-between time, when ambulatory limitations kept him from participating, Corbett could have easily just twiddled his thumbs. Instead, the seven-year vet gravitated towards his rookie quarterback. The two started watching the game together, talking through protections, what they prefer in one situation versus another.

At the time, Corbett was a guard on the offensive line, albeit a sidelined one. His view of the game is slightly different this season, by about 18 inches, as he's been slid over to center this year. But those conversations last fall paid dividends in multiple ways; namely, teaching Corbett and Bryce Young how to speak each other's language.

"On the fortunate unfortunate side of last year, I had a lot of time just to be able to sit back and talk with Bryce on the side," Corbett said. "And so, we're kind of building that bond from the get-go last year."

Added Young, "We were having conversations about how he sees things, what it is that he feels is this way. And it was all productive, obviously last year, just us being on the same page."

Corbett took his rehab time as an opportunity to step back and look at the offense from a wide lens. The scheme has changed, with the hiring of Dave Canales and staff, but the tidbits learned about Young have carried over. And now, each of those conversations, the time in the film room and tweaks to calls are even more important, with Corbett playing center.

"He's as much a part of the offense running smoothly as Bryce," Canales said. "As they go up there, they make their calls, they get everything started on a good foot and then just the timing in which we do it and how we communicate it. I'm really excited about just the way that he's able to recognize things quickly."

As the center, Corbett is largely responsible for making sure the other four offensive linemen are in position, the protection for Young is set, and letting the quarterback know if anything up front on defense shifts, requiring a subsequent response from Carolina's line. It's a vocal position, suited to Corbett's skill set, willingness to take charge, institutional knowledge of the division opponents, and now, his tethered connection to Bryce Young.

"Now just to be able to pick it up and just be right alongside him this time where it's easy, you know, it's not this big transition," Corbett said. "We built that already last year."

"We kind of both know how each other thinks about things," echoed Young. "Obviously, with him making a lot of the calls and us talking through pass game, talking through run game, all that stuff, we kind of already have that rapport."

The Panthers added two new guards in free agency, Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis, meaning that along with a new offensive staff and a new playbook, Bryce Young was already destined to spend this offseason becoming comfortable with a new interior line as well. But by moving Austin Corbett to center, Young has also been given a steadying force, a familiar voice and an extension of himself up front.

"It's grown over the last couple of weeks and then OTAs, but it started back last year just based off of really how studious and how much of a student of the game he is," Young bragged of his center. "So that credit goes to him and I'm glad we have that rapport."