Posts tagged JakeDelhomme at FanHouse

You've got questions. I've got answers. If not, I'll make them up. Each Thursday at 1 p.m. EST, I answer your queries on all things related to the NFL. If you have a question, send it over to NFLMailbag@aol.com. Don't forget to include your name and location. Click here for the archives. Rock'n'roll.

I know that this feature is slated to run on Thursdays, thus making this a day late. The Thursday season opener threw things off this week, but the mailbag will be running every Thursday from here on out. I wasn't hung over and I didn't forget. OK, I was a little hung over. Anyways ...

Was it a good move for the Carolina Panthers to dump Brett Basanez, a QB who'd been with the team for some time, knew the offense, and was relatively young with some upside, and instead bring in Josh McCown, who very well may be a decent backup but shouldn't be starting in this league, whereas Basanez possibly could have one day been a starter?
- SoulCitySigma1914, Greensboro, NC

Basanez did make a solid impression entering this year after two years mostly on the Panthers' practice squad, enough that a few teams gave him a look when the Panthers released him. That being said, the Panthers have a "project" quarterback that they like in Matt Moore, and they want to win now. Jake Delhomme is no sure thing, performance- or health-wise, so the Panthers probably wanted a backup with game experience who could come in if needed without disturbing too much. Basanez isn't that guy. Neither is Moore. Plus, I have to say, I've always liked McCown. Though four teams disagree. But what do they know? One of them was the Raiders ...

On Friday, the Dolphins sent quarterback Josh McCown to the Panthers, presumably to provide depth behind Jake Delhomme after Matt Moore suffered what looked to be a serious injury during the preseason finale against the Steelers (turns out, Moore will be okay and, like the rest of us, is day to day).

Prior to moving McCown, there was some speculation that Miami would either trade or release John Beck, the team's 2007 second-round pick. After all, Beck was drafted by the previous regime, and Bill Parcells himself had green-lighted the McCown signing, which included $2.5 million in up-front loot.

Funny story. According to the Palm Beach Post's Edgar Thompson, general manager Jeff Ireland has a perfectly rational explanation for keeping Beck and jettisoning McCown.

Heading into fantasy football drafts, one of the main words that can strike fear into an owner's eyes is the word injury. Whether it's an injury-risk, a current injury, injury-history, or someone who suffered an injury last season. Everyone gets scared because you don't want to be saddled with a high draft pick that works his way into bust status, especially when you saw the warning signs. I'm here to alleviate these fears on four different players. All of these guys are tumbling too far down draft boards for one reason or another, and it needs to stop.



Marvin Harrison, Colts WR, coming off rare injury-riddled season and a slight legal brush
Don't even worry about the legal stuff. He would have been charged or at least questioned further by now, so he's completely in the clear. I mean, who doesn't own a custom-made Belgian piece anyway?

Twelve days ago, Steve Smith punched Ken Lucas in the face. The Panthers subsequently suspended Smith for two games and Lucas got a broken nose -- not to mention the emotional scars -- for his troubles.

Smith eventually apologized, Lucas accepted, and Karma even made an unexpected appearance. And now, almost two weeks after Smith went all "Westbrook", Lucas is finally ready to talk how he was able to forgive the guy who rearranged his face.

The Charlotte Observer's Tom Sorensen spoke with Lucas prior to yesterday's practice and got right to the point:

There are many questions entering the 2008 Carolina Panthers season. The Panthers first preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts gave some answers.

The main question is how QB Jake Delhomme looks after Tommy John surgery. Well, we don't know. Delhomme played just two series ... which is commonplace for a quarterback this early in the preseason. However, both series began off Colts turnovers deep in their own end.

Delhomme threw just one pass -- a fade route to Muhsin Muhammad that fell incomplete. Other than that, he turned around and handed the ball off the DeAngelo Williams five times ... with two of them ending in touchdowns. And that was all for Jake.

Maybe we can get a better look against Philadelphia this week.

We got a great look at the Carolina defense that set up those two early TD drives.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: Jake Delhomme is coming off Tommy John surgery so no one knows what to expect. At the end of 2006, some fans wanted someone new at quarterback. Before he was injured in 2007, he was off to a white-hot start. How he recovers will go a long way to a successful Panthers season. Matt Moore filled in nicely late last season and may be the team's future. Brett Basanez isn't ready for prime time. No more Vinny or Mr. Mittens. Heat Index: 5

Running backs: The Panthers have been looking for a Stephen Davis type back and may have found one in rookie Jonathan Stewart. He's the kind of bull coach John Fox likes to center his offense around. DeAngelo Williams will be more efficient as a change-of-pace back. Brad Hoover is back again as an effective fullback. Nick Goings is always around to back up anybody. Heat Index: 5

Staff rankings were compiled by averaging the individual rankings of each member of Fantasy Fanhouse. The rankings are based on standard leagues where you gain points for yardage and scores. Or something ...

For the first time in years we enter a fantasy draft season in which Peyton Manning will not be the first QB off the board in the overwhelming majority of leagues -- like the free ones over at FleaFlicker.

While Will Brinson doesn't want you to be the one that takes the plunge in the first round with him -- neither do I -- Tom Brady still checks in as the top QB in our staff rankings. Hopefully you can grasp the concept of being overrated yet still number one at the position.

Some other highlights:
- No, we aren't worried about Manning's knee. You shouldn't be either. The Colts offense is a juggernaut, and he already has great chemistry with their skill guys. Training camp would just be a formality.

- While we don't love Jay Cutler or Matt Schaub as much as some others, we most certainly love Jake Delhomme, Marc Bulger, and Philip Rivers. We can be contrarian like that.

- For bigger leagues where you can start multiple QBs, the 20s are a bargain basement of sleepers. JaMarcus Russell, Trent Edwards, Tarvaris Jackson et al can be had dirt cheap for the potential value they hold.

- Jason Campbell is also a good sleeper, but settle down. Anyone who proclaims him as anything better than top 15 is trying way too hard.

FanHouse's Top 5:
1. Tom Brady, Patriots
2. Peyton Manning, Colts
3. Tony Romo, Cowboys
4. Drew Brees, Saints
5. Carson Palmer, Bengals

See the rest after the jump ...

Jeffri Chadiha of ESPN.com threw up his "Ten Most Indispensable Players" to their teams which has a few surprising names. A quick rundown:

• 1-Tom Brady, Patriots
• 2-Peyton Manning, Colts
• 3-Terrell Owens, Cowboys
• 4-Adrian Peterson, Vikings
• 5-Antonio Gates, Chargers
• 6-Albert Haynesworth, Titans
• 7-Brian Westbrook, Eagles
• 8-Joe Thomas, Browns
• 9-Matt Hasselbeck, Seahawks
• 10-Eli Manning, Giants

Let's start at the bottom: Eli Manning? I know we were all impressed by his playoff run, but you do remember the Giants looked very bad towards the end of last season, right? To me, the Texans' Andre Johnson, Panthers' Steve Smith or, Broncos' Champ Bailey are more list-worthy than Eli.

Not to dump on him, but he had a 32.2 QB rating in a win over the Bills and a 44.9 QB rating in a win over the Dolphins. His two highest QB ratings during the regular season? Both losses. That means he can suck and the Giants still can win football games. Doesn't seem very indispensable to me.

That brings me to Adrian Peterson ...

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet the ...
Super Bowl Champions. Look, people can claim they're not homers all day long, but the fact of the matter is, I read/watch/write re: the Panthers a lot. (Well, as often as I can anyway.) And maybe I'm a little biased, but they're going to win the NFC South this year and they're going to do it by scoring a ton of points. Of course, if Jake Delhomme goes down again, I may look stupid. But it wouldn't be the first time.

The Breakout
The bad news? Jonathan Stewart is already getting a lot of preseason love (check him dead center of the sixth round in an average 12 teamer). The good news? The love is warranted. Stewart was thought to be a top choice of plenty of teams in the draft, but a turf toe injury let him hang around for the Cats. Note that the Carolina team doctor performed his surgery

On Thursday, ProFootballTalk.com posted word that Brett Favre's agent, Bus Cook, was floating the idea that his client would love to play for the Panthers. The Rock Hill Herald's Darin Gantt had to take time out from his Fourth of July preparations to shoot down the rumor, because, no matter where Favre may or may not want to play in 2008, Carolina is very happy with their current quarterback, Jake Delhomme.

And yesterday, we heard from pithy Panthers general manager Marty Hurney: "I don't know where these things come from." This motivated PFT's Mike Florio to give an impromptu lesson in child development:

Well, Marty, here's how it works. Human beings have vocal cords. At a point roughly between 18 and 30 months of age, human beings begin using their vocal cords to articulate words. By the time we reach adulthood, we use them all the freakin' time.

In this case, "these things" came from Cook using those vocal cords to talk to other people about Favre's desire to play for the Panthers.

So there you have it.

I'm pretty sure Hurney understands how these things work. That he chose not to comment on them hardly seems surprising since, you know, honesty is the best policy except when you're an NFL general manager. Either way, whatever Hurney knows doesn't change the fact that Delhomme's still the Panthers' starting quarterback.