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).

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Starters

Julius Peppers (4th selection)- With the third most sacks in the NFC from a defensive end, Peppers is in no doubt deserving of the honor.  After an off year last season in which he recorded only 2.5 sacks, Peppers has rebounded nicely, and will be starting alongside Jarrett Allen at defensive end for the NFC.  I must say though I though John Abraham got shafted, getting beat out by Justin Tuck for the final DE spot (probably because Tuck is a Giant).  Abrham has 15.5 sacks to Tuck’s 12, and the only real difference in their number is Tuck has an interception run back for a touchdown.  I guess and interception equals four sacks.

Jordan Gross (1st selection)- With no real stats for you to go by when looking at offensive linemen, it really comes down to name and team recognition, and Jordan Gross has both.  With the Panthers 4th in the league in rushing, and 7th in sacks allowed, there was no doubt the Panthers deserved at least on Pro Bowler from the offensive line, and Gross was the obvious choice.  I would say that Travelle Wharton definetly was deserving as well, but it’s hard to argue against Steve Hutchinson, Chris Snee, and Leonard Davis.

Reserves

Steve Smith (4th selection)- It’s pretty amazing that after missing the first two games because of John Fox’s suspension, Smith is third in the league in receiving yards, T5 for plays over 20 yards, and T12 in receiving touchdowns.  Smith is quite possibley one of the best receivers in the league, and is a dynamic part of the Panthers offense this season, though not all of it, as he has been in years past.

Jon Beason (1st selection)- Beason is second in the league in tackles with a 122, and leads the Panthers with three interceptions, what’s more is that this is only Beason’s second season.  It is clear that the Panthers have a big star in the making with Beason, and this will be the first of many more Pro Bowls to come for the middle linebacker.

Noteworthies

DeAngelo Williams- I know we all wanted to see DeAngelo sneak in with that third running back slot, and if he did you really couldn’t argue against the selection.  Williams is second in the NFL rushing touchdowns with 14 and fourth in total rushing yards, but his competition was outstanding: Adrian Peterson, Clinton Portis, and Michael Turner.  While Williams trails in yards, has received substantially less carries that the other three backs and sports a whopping 5.5 yard per rush average, well above Peterson, Portis, and Turner.  Again the issue of fan voting and name recognition comes up, as these guys definitely beat out Williams in those categories.  Like it or not that’s the way it is.

Travelle Wharton- Wharton has cemented his spot as the best guard in football not to be selected to a Pro Bowl, but it really doesn’t matter since the Panthers are paying him as if his’s a two time Pro Bowler.  With Wharton and Gross anchoring the right side of the Panthers line, there is no doubt the Panthers have one of the fiercest left sides in football.

It seems that Williams is finnaly comming into his own.  Many thought the the drafting of Jonathan Stewart singaled that Williams would eventually lose his starting job.  Williams was able to hold his spot as the Panther’s number one back during training camp though, and has had a breakout year, showing vast improvment from his previous two seasons.  Williams should have some good games ahead as well, with the Panthers facing Okland and Detroit in their next two games, who rank 27th and 31st agaisnt the rush respectively.

Kasay has been absolutely money this season, connecting on all 16 of his attempts, extending a streak of 21 consecutive field goals hit going back to last season.  It’s kind of hard to believe Kasay is still kicking this accurately, considering this is his 18th NFL season and is the only other player along with Brett Favre left from the 1990 draft.  Distance hasn’t been a problem either.  Kasay knocked in a crucial 50 yard field goal Sunday, that would have been good from almost 60.

One possible reason for Kasay’s sucsess this season has been the signing of kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd.  With Lloyd taking kickoff duties, and Kasay focusing solely on field goals, Kasay perhaps doesn’t have to worry about wearing out his leg out trying to boot the ball into the endzone five or six times a game.  Whatever the reason is, be it the addition of Lloyd or Kasay just on a hot streak, John Fox and Marty Hurney made the right decisions in signing Lloyd, and extending Kasay’s contract.

A 6-foot-4, 337-pounder from Pittsburgh, Spencer was the Texans’ 2006 third-round draft pick. He earned a job in the preseason as the starting left tackle, but he suffered a severe leg injury during the second game of the 2006 season and hasn’t played since.

For the first time in his NFL career Jeff Otah hit the practice fields in Charlotte today. Otah, the Panthers second first round pick of April’s draft, ended the rehabilitation of a nagging ankle injury he had since last fall while playing for Pittsburgh. Otah missed the entire post-draft minicamp earlier in the month, as well as practices last week, but has been working with the Panther’s trainers and has gotten back to 100%.

“It felt good to finally get out there,” Otah said. “You know what you’re doing, but you’ve got to get it in your head a little faster so you can react.”

The time that Otah has had off has allowed him to really get to know the Panther’s play book and be able to step right in at right tackle and begin practicing. Otah is expected to be the starter at the right tackle position next season, and the time he spends practicing and learning now, means everything come September.

“Most of its mental assignments” said Panthers Head Coach John Fox on Otah’s summer school activities “he’s digesting all the protections, the run schemes, the calls. This is the first time physically where he has had to come and and execute that.”

Otah still has much to learn before training camp starts in late July, but all indications say he will be ready to step up and justify the decision to trade away next year’s number one pick to get him.

In other news, John Fox has also said that last year’s second round draft pick, Dewayne Jarrett, has looked “impressive” in recent OTA’s, and that he is showing signs that he could see a lot more action come the regular season. Many people, including myself, thought that Jarrett’s performance last season was very disappointing, collecting only 73 yards on six receptions. But we have to remember that the learning curve for wide receivers in the NFL is much steeper than most positions outside of quaterback. Maybe Jarrett will even be able to compete with free agent pickups Mushin Muhammad and D. J. Hackett for a starting role.

Also I just want to say that ESPN’s John Clayton needs to try knowing the stuff he is reporting on. Clayton wrote some article last week that mentioned Carolina’s quarterback situation, and the only thing he felt he needed to mention about Matt Moore, was that he was an undrafted rookie picked up by the Cowboy’s, not the fact that he went 2-1 in starting the last three games for Carolina. Then today Clayton was trying to say that Steve Smith is going to be 30 this fall. Really, I mean come on, how hard is it to look up a guy’s age!

“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.

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-