Fox has come up with second round draft pick Jimmy Clausen. He will leading the team into Tampa Bay against Bucs. This is the 4th start of Clausen this season against the most opportunistic defenses in NFL.

Clausen, product of Notre Dame, was ineffective in the 3 prior starts and also in couple of relief appearances. He has completed 48.6 percent of his pass attempts and has got only throwing for one touchdown. Against Tampa Bay his 4 picks are likely to rise which is tied for the lead in the league with 14 interceptions. He had also got slow start in college and had only won one of his first 6 collegiate starts.

People agree that Carolina Panthers do have good offensive with Steve Smith, David Gettis and DeAngelo Williams. Well, Clausen is surely be seeing pressure this Sunday from the Buccaneers. So, Carolina Panthers need to depend on defense as well as special teams unist.

However, Clausen seems determined of playing better to build up positive response. He had commented recently, “hopefully, the speed of the game will slow down for me. It did a little bit when I went in there last Sunday, and hopefully, it will keep slowing down for me each and every game.”

On Monday, the coach said in a press conference that whether Matt Moore or Jimmy Clausen will be the quarterback is early to say.

He said, “We’ll evaluate that as we move forward this week.”

Jimmy Clausen was 9 of 22 for 61 yards in the loss against Bears by 23-6. Moore too over Jimmy and he was 5 for 10 for 35 yards. Earlier he was replaced as started this season after the second game.

Well, it is just two games this season for Clausen and the move of his following a loss to Tampa Bay is too early. But there was no choice for Carolina Panthers after a preseason of futility with Matt Moore running the offense.

Still, Veteran tackle Jeff Otah is sidelined due to knee issue and the offense continues. There is no update from Fox for veteran wide receiver Steve Smith, who is suffering from ankle sprain and missed the loss to Chicago.

He did not had any ill feeling toward Delhomme. He said that he felt bad when Np. 17 was let go. Well, this is his golden opportunity to become the man.

Moore said about starting, “(It’s) not really pressure.” He added further, “Just looking forward to the chance (to start), and Jake had a lot of good years here, and I’m looking forward to doing the same. So, I’m just excited and hoping to start off on the right foot this season.”

Moore very well knows that he has perform as the earlier starter because the club is committed to him for only one season for $3+ million. He said that his approach is different this season. As a starter he has a 6-2 record.

Moore said, “I don’t think I have changed personally, but I guess my approach has changed slightly… I’m a little more detailed and a little more enhanced in that way.”

In 2007 Moore went underdraft out of Oregon State. Also he had advanced to mentor point. He had guided young players like rookie QBs Jimmy Clausen, Tony Pike and also Hunter Cantwell, the second-year pro.

In an interview on ESPN Clausen said, “I couldn’t have gone to a better place than Carolina.”

According to projection, Jimmy Clausen was suppose to go top 10 picks and was also seen as the second-best Quarterback in this 2010 draft class.

But it was a slide down for him and he finally ending when the Carolina Panthers made their first pick. Panthers were in need of QB.

Clausen said, “It’s a great situation for me… I just talked to the coach and he said it’s pretty much the same verbage (as the offense he played in at Notre Dame).”

Last season Carolina Panthers cut QB Jake Delhomme and enter in the next season with unproven Matt Moore.

Clausen said that during his sliding down in the draft board, his family was very supportive. He said, “Obviously I wanted to go as early as I could, but this is a great situation for me.”

Right now, it seems, that the team needs one more quarterback at least and it would be preferred for one having veteran experience and not a drafted- or undrafted-rookie.

It may also be that the team is in need of two quarterbacks. Well, it is on Marty Hurney and John Fox to decide upon.

Few names that can be considered here are: Restricted Free Agent Jason Campbell; Unrestricted Free Agents Marc Bulger, Jeff Garcia (expressing interest with Eagles), and also to re-sign Josh McCown.

If the team opts for solely drafting a QB or if adding a rookie QB as well as signing a veteran then some of the names that comes across may be Texas QB Colt McCoy, Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour, Cincinnati QB Tony Pike, and two quarterbacks scoring highly in the intangibles department are Colt McCoy and Florida QB Tim Tebow.

He said “we need a player who has consistency. Many players feel that Moore should be given a chance. We want to win football and will choose the more competitive player”.

Moore is expected to be contacted before March 4th deadline.

Panthers will definitely change a quarterback soon. “We are flexible in our choice and we will choose only the best player available. We will know in a few months.”

Talking to fox Hurney, he said that Panthers will allow coach John Fox for 2010 season as a duck coach. “But Fox will not have much of a say” he said. He said John departure will not affect the team’s performance. Fox is not happy with the decision- the sources said.

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).

“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.

It is likely that Ricard will be either placed on the Panther’s practice squad or cut before the season starts. Hopefully, he will be able to catch on and show some of the elusiveness he had back in college.