Position Analysis: Quarterback

As we enter May and June, the black hole in the NFL offseason, I’m going to go though a position-by-position analysis, grading the Panthers on each position. So I’m kicking off the first of my position analysis blog by starting with the most important position of an NFL Team: Quarterback.

Number of Quarterbacks on the roster: 3

Probable Starter: Jake Delhomme

With Jake Delhomme going down in week three last season, and David Carr suddenly thrown into the starting role, there were many people in Carolina that saw this as a good thing. With the Panthers picking up David Carr to help back up Jake Delhomme, Carr was seen as a possible starter if Jake Delhomme struggled like he did in 2006. Well many fans got their wish to see David Carr start in Carolina, and I guarantee you all of them are regretting that. David Carr is horrible. We knew he had some issues in Houston, and after going 1-4 and eventually being benched by 44 year old Vinny Testaverde, we knew he had had too many issues. Now with Jake Delhomme recovering from Tommy John surgery and looking as healthy as ever (some reports even say he is stronger), everyone is jumping back on board the Delhomme bandwagon. All the criticism of Delhomme evaporated after everyone realized how much he means to this team. The bottom line is that with Delhomme starting the Panthers should win at least 10 games next season, yes on that factor alone.

While much of the upcoming season does depend on the health of Delhomme there is a scenario that could turn out to be pretty good as well. If for some reason Delhomme goes down, second year man Matt Moore would be the starter, and while he is not as good as Delhomme right now, he does have the ability to win some games, and the potential I think to win a lot of games. I mentioned a few days ago how well Moore played the last month of the season going 2-1 and becoming the first quarterback to win offensive rookie of the month since Ben Roethlisberger, but there are a few instances that I want to highlight. First I want to look at one play in particular during the third quarter of last season’s game five against the Saints. David Carr injured his back and Matt Moore had to come in for a series. On his first play from scrimmage Matt Moore dropped backed and threw a 48 yard bomb to Drew Carter who caught the ball in double coverage. After seeing this play I immediately jumped out of my seat, ecstatic. Not because Moore threw such a great pass, or made a good decision (really looking back on the pass he probably shouldn’t have made the throw), but because he did something that David Carr had failed to do the previous two games with Carolina, and the previous six seasons with Houston. He made a decision. Maybe not a good decision, he probably didn’t read the coverage as well as he could have, but he at least looked down the field and threw the ball. The Second instance I want to look at a throw he made in the first quarter of the game against Seattle. On a second and seven play Moore dropped back and looked down the field to his first read which was Smitty. But Smitty was covered. Moore not panicking then looked all the way back across the field and hit Dante Rosario for a big 53 yard pickup, again show poise in the pocket and the ability to make a decision, something David Carr just can’t do. Matt Moore being able to do these things as an undrafted rookie says a lot.

I’m not saying that the Panthers will be better off with Moore if Delhomme goes down next season, they won’t, but he has shown the ability to win games and, if put in that situation could be the one to get Carolina back into the playoffs. Head Coach John Fox and General Manager Marty Hurney clearly have confidence in Moore by not signing any veteran QB help and deciding, at this point at least, to go into this years training camp with only three quarterbacks on the roster as opposed to the normal four. Speaking of the other quarterback Carolina does have another good backup in Brett Basanez who missed all of last season with a wrist injury. The Panthers like Basanez a lot and he should do a good job of backing up Moore and Delhomme. If the situation arises were Moore and Dehlomme both go down, Basanez would start, but lets pray that the football injury gods stay away from our quarterbacks this season.

Overall Position Grade:B (All of that hinging upon Delhomme’s health).

Delhomme’s Elbow

In yesterday’s summer school practice Jake Delhomme took his first snaps under center since week three of last season. This is a very good sign, as Delhomme is recovering from Tommy John surgery, something not many NFL quarterbacks have been able to come back from. With Delhomme’s pitch count still being watched, he said Wednesday that he wasn’t sure exactly how many throws he had taken, something he was very aware of at the Panther’s minicamp earlier in the month.

“It felt great, but mentally I was maybe a little rusty,” said Delhomme on Wednesday. “But that’s to be expected. It felt good to be in the huddle and competing again.”

Though Delhomme isn’t 100%, he is right on track to be ready for training camp on July 25th. More than anything, it is good to see Delhomme back in the huddle, not because of his throwing ability, but because of his leadership, something Carolina greatly lacked on both sides of the ball last season. Delhomme seems to be able to inspire his teammates.

“It’s great to have your starting quarterback out there,” Head Coach John Fox said while being interviewed on Wednesday. “He’s not only a good quarterback, he’s the leader of your offense. To see his enthusiasm was a joy to watch. And that’s contagious. It’s different when you don’t have `that’ guy in there. I hope we’ll see the results. It’s been a long time.”

As for now, it looks like Delhomme will be ready to lead the Panthers offense, hopefully into the post season, next year.

Kris Jenkins Losing Weight

There have been reports out of Jets minicamp that Kris Jenkins has been loosing weight for the Jets. Jenkins was traded to the New York Jets last March in exchange for a third and fifth round draft selections, and this wasn’t the first year Jenkins was reported to be on the trading block. There may be worries that Carolina made a big mistake in trading Jenkins, who does seem to be getting things back in order, but I still think it was the right move to get rid of Jenkins.

Jenkins had not been happy the last few years in Carolina, being put on the trading block by the Panthers and constantly struggling to maintain his weight, its obvious that he wanted a fresh start somewhere else. If Jenkins had not been traded, he would still be in the same situation he was in last year. Jenkins is losing weight in New York because he has a fresh start and a new beginning. We’ll have to wait until the season starts to asses whether or not those draft picks were that valuable- they did give Carolina room to trade back into the first round and get Jeff Otah and select Dan Connor in the third round. As for now there is no need to worry, lots of guys go through the same type of thing when they are traded, and Carolina did make good use of the draft picks they acquired as well.

Position Analysis: Guard

Number on the Roster: 7

Probable Starters: Travelle Wharton, Toniu Fonoti

The major focal point of the Panthers this offseason was the offensive line. Due to a poor running game in 2007, combined with a desire to get back to the football that lead them to the Superbowl in 2003, Head Coach John Fox and General Manager Marty Hurney decided to overhaul the offensive line. This overhaul began with the release of guard Mike Whale and center Justin Hartwig in a move to get larger on the offensive side of the ball, and they certainly did.

It wasn’t certain exactly what the line was going to look like until after the draft and free agent pickups, but by May, it became clear where Carolina was going on the offensive line. By selecting tackle Jeff Otah, Carolina showed that they planned to move Jordan Gross to the left side of the OL in order to make way for Otah (you can see my analysis on the OTs in our Position Analysis Categories). This move meant that last year’s starting left tackle Travelle Wharton is going to move inside and play left guard. Right now, with Wharton and Gross. the left side of the Panthers line looks very solid in both protecting Jake Delhomme’s blind side, and clearing a path for Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams.

While the left guard slot appears to be locked up, the right guard position is wide open for completion. and is where all three of the Panthers free agent guard pickups are likely to compete. Out of the three guards signed- Milford Brown, Keydrick Vincent, and Toniu Fonoti- all three of them are above 325 pounds, clearly showing that Carolina fulfilled their goal of getting bigger on the OL.

These three will compete with Evan Mathis and Geoff Hangartner for the starting job, and though Vincent is ahead of Fonoti on the depth chart, I think Fonoti will be able to beat out the competition. Fonoti has had some considerable weight problems, and at one point was rumored to be one of the heaviest football players of all time, getting up around 390, which caused him to be traded to the Vikings from the Chargers in 2005. Fonoti played extremely well as a rookie for San Diego and looked poised to have a promising career, but he kept struggling to maintain his weight and was eventually traded to the Vikings, and then Atlanta, where he was buried on the depth chart. Now Fonoti seems to be resurrecting his career. There are reports from players that Fonoti has been working very hard to get his weight under control and is looking very lean and fit. If this is true I think Fonoti will be able to start, and perhaps, get back to the level he was at as a rookie. With the resurrected Fonoti on the right side, he and Otah should open up big holes for Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams, contributing greatly to Carolina’s run game next season. Fonoti has the potential to be a very big pickup in Carolina, but we will have to wait until training camp to see which one of Carolina’s guards will step up and take the reigns.

Overall Position Grade: B-

Should The Panthers Make A Move For Jason Taylor?

With Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor deciding to Dance with the Stars rather than attend the Dolphins training camp, it’s clear that the Pro Bowl defensive end wants out in Miami. The question is, should Carolina go after Jason Taylor? The move could potentially be fantastic, but could also strike a devastating blow to the team’s salary cap if Taylor asks for a large contract, which he most certainly will. Because of Taylor’s age, 34 in September, the number one thing you have to look at with this deal is “Do I want to win now?” or “Do I want to win later?”. Personally I have always been a win now guy and that there is no time like the present to try and get all of your pieces together in order to win a Superbowl, but still, this kind of move could do some damage to the salary cap three years down the road.

Looking at all of the reasons why Carolina should trade for Taylor, there are a lot. For starters, the Panthers would have one of the most dominant defensive lines in football with Taylor and Peppers starting together. Taylor’s presence would take a lot of pressure off Peppers, who has had to deal with countless double teams over the last two years with Mike Rucker getting injured and aging. With Peppers on the left and Taylor on the right, Carolina could forget about their shaky defensive tackles, because if Taylor and Peppers are their usual selves they most likely should have 20 sacks between them at least. I know I ripped Peppers yesterday about not performing last year, but if Peppers bounces back, Carolina would have quite a scary pass rush. You can’t totally eliminate his playmaking ability, and after watching Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora eat up the Patriot’s offensive line in the Superbowl, we all know what a good pass rush can do.

While the upside to the trade looks very promising and would seem to make Carolina a definite playoff contender, the repercussions could be equally as bad. Let’s just say that Carolina decides to trade their third and fifth round picks in next years draft. That would mean that Carolina will have only four picks in the 2009 draft (they traded their no.1 in 2009 for Jeff Otah), Down the road, Carolina may have some issues due to the low number of draft picks. Also I mentioned Taylor’s age, because the reality is that Taylor really is past his prime and will most likely retire in the next three years. But because Head Coach John Fox and General Manager Marty Hurney will most likely be fired if Carolina doesn’t reach the post season this year, what do they have to lose?

Besides the losing draft picks immediately, the Panthers would also be struggling to get under the salary cap for the next few seasons if Taylor wants a large contract (but again, if Fox and Hurney aren’t going to be here, what’s it to them?). I think that John Fox’s conservative nature was already pushed when the Panthers traded up to get Otah, and if the Panthers win (which they should) Fox and Hurney wouldn’t want to dig themselves into too deep a hole just to secure their jobs for seasons to come only to have little room to operate come future seasons, so don’t count on the Panthers aggressively going after Taylor.

Whether or not Carolina will start trade talks with the Dolphins remains to be seen, but at least it will fill some news space this upcoming June and July. Under the right terms I think the Panthers should try and make a move for Taylor, but if the price is too high, they already have the nucleus they think they need to contend, and Taylor would just be icing on the cake.

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