The Scores Report - The National Sports Blog » Jake Delhomme sucks

Can Jake Delhomme really lead a weak Browns’ passing game?

Anthony Stalter — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:00:41 +0000

Merry preseason, everyone. It’s been a long offseason, but football is finally gearing up again and to celebrate I’m rolling out a new series on TSR entitled “2010 NFL Question Marks,” where I discuss one or two of the biggest concerns that teams have heading into the new season. Granted, some teams have more issues than others, but I’ll primarily be focusing on the biggest problem areas. Today I’ll be discussing the major issues the Browns could have with their passing game this season.

Usually teams have enough skill players to make an offense work, but their line holds them back.

The Browns have the opposite problem.

Joe Thomas is one of the top pass blocking left tackles in the game and will once again anchor a solid Cleveland offensive line. While he needs to improve his pass protection, young center Alex Mack is a budding star and Eric Steinbach completes a pretty dominating left side.

Unfortunately, not even a good offensive line will save the Browns from what should be one of the worst passing games in the NFL.

I’ve never been a fan of Jake Delhomme and while he may be fooling Cleveland fans with his “veteran presence” act right now, the guy was atrocious last year. He doesn’t handle pressure well, he forces passes into coverage and even when he does have time he still turns the ball over.

Granted, he was a consistent performer in 2008 before his disaster in the playoffs against the Cardinals that year. So if he can recapture some of that magic then maybe the Browns will be okay, but 1) I wouldn’t bet on it and 2) that means other players will have to step up around him.

Mohamed Massaquoi obviously has a ton of talent, which he displayed in big games against the Bengals and Lions last year. There’s a chance this could be his breakout season, but that would require Delhomme being able to get him the ball. While he certainly has a ton of potential, Massaquoi is being counted on as the Browns’ No. 1 receiver and he only amassed 624 yards last season.

On the other side is Brian Robiskie, whom I think has a nice future as a possession receiver. But he looked incredibly lost last year as a rookie (which I realize isn’t uncommon) and needs to make strides in his development if he wants to remain a starter.

Behind Massaquoi and Robiskie are Joshua Cribbs and Chansi Stuckey. Obviously Cribbs is explosive in the return game and he’s a highlight reel waiting to happen if he can get into open space. But he was arguably the least productive Brown as a receiver last year. Stuckey is fine as a No. 3 or No. 4, although don’t expect the light to turn on for him at this point in his career.

The good news is that the receiving corps does have potential (I’m intrigued by this Carlton Mitchell kid, too) and the running game should be strong. Adding Ben Watson at tight end should also help in the passing game, although it looks like Evan Moore is going looks at the position as well.

If Delhomme can be more consistent and cut down on all of the mistakes, the Browns’ passing game might be okay. And if Massaquoi can develop into a true No. 1 receiver over the course of the year, that should help Delhomme. And if Robiskie makes strides and if Cribbs carries over his play on special teams to receiver, the Browns will be in good shape.

You can see where I’m going with this. If, if, if, if…

I don’t have a ton of faith that all of this will come together – especially Delhomme transforming back into the quarterback he used to be. Thus, I think the Browns’ passing game (among other things) will hold them back in 2010.

Panthers’ decision to extend Delhomme last year will cost them

Anthony Stalter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:20:57 +0000

Last April, the Carolina Panthers decided to be loyal to the quarterback that brought them their lone Super Bowl appearance by signing Jake Dehomme to a five-year, $42.5 million contract extension.

The move was a bit strange seeing as how Delhomme was coming off a horrid performance in a home playoff loss against the Cardinals in which he threw six interceptions. Usually a team locks a player up that is on the rise, not the decline, and Delhomme was definitely on the decline.

Things didn’t get any better for Delhomme in 2009. He played in just 11 games, throwing eight touchdown passes and 18 interceptions. He struggled reading defenses, displayed poor decision making and routinely forced passes into covered receivers. Eventually, Matt Moore took over under center and played well, raising speculation that Delhomme would have to compete for his job in 2010.

Now he won’t even have the opportunity to do that.

The Panthers released Delhomme on Thursday, ending his seven-year tenure in Carolina. The team is obviously committed to Moore and wanted to create a clear path to the starting job for the youngster next season.

Thanks to their horrendous decision to sign him to an extension, the Panthers still owe Delhomme $12.5 million in guaranteed money. With this being an uncapped offseason, $12.5 million could have gone a long way for a team that will needs a solid No. 2 receiver opposite Steve Smith and a pass rusher to replace Julius Peppers for when he signs elsewhere this month.

Why the Panthers signed Delhomme for that much money is anyone’s guess. One would have thought that John Fox and his coaching staff would have seen that Delhomme’s skills were deteriorating and convinced the front office not to offer him such a lucrative extension. The Panthers’ inability to see what others saw will cost them financially this offseason.

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Has Fox saved his job or is Cowher destined for Carolina?

Anthony Stalter — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:28:56 +0000

The Carolina Panthers have been the model for inconsistency under head coach John Fox for the better part of a decade. One year they’re up, the next they’re down.

But much like previous down years, the Panthers are finishing strong in 2009. They’ve won three of their last four games and have the opportunity to finish .500, which is quite an accomplishment for a team that had Jake Delhomme under center for most of their year.

Their strong finish begs the question: Has Fox saved his job?

Rumors are circulating that Bill Cowher wants to return to the sidelines in 2010 and Carolina might be a fit because his daughter attends N.C. State. If Cowher is interested, will the Panthers jump at the opportunity to bring him on board or will they stay loyal to Fox, a man that led the team to their only Super Bowl appearance?

Much like in previous down years, the Panthers struggled with injuries and inconsistency this season. Delhomme was a train wreck and should no longer be viewed as a starter, especially given that Matt Moore is gaining confidence with each passing week. The defense has gelled nicely under new defensive coordinator Ron Meeks and the running game is sound with the two-headed monster of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. The team could use a No. 2 receiver opposite Steve Smith but other than that, they don’t have a ton of holes.

With that in mind, is Fox the right person to get the Panthers back to the playoffs or should the front office go in another direction? Personally, if Cowher is interested I don’t know how the Panthers don’t entertain the thought of hiring him. But if he turns them down or isn’t interested, then Fox should be retained.

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Stafford, Delhomme’s seasons over

Anthony Stalter — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:53:24 +0000

The Lions will place quarterback Matthew Stafford on injured reserve, effectively ending his rookie season. In similar news, the Panthers will place Jake Delhomme on injured reserve, ending his season.

Stafford showed promise in his rookie year and demonstrated toughness as a rookie. He’ll finish his first year with 13 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, which are common numbers for rookie quarterbacks. If Detroit could ever build him on offensive line, then he could do some damage as a pro quarterback.

As for Delhomme, one has to think that Carolina would cut ties with him in the offseason. The problem is that he’s set to make $13 million in guaranteed money, so he’ll probably be back to challenge Matt Moore (who has made strides in the past couple weeks) for the starting job next season.

Delhomme turned the ball over 27 times in 12 games this season, making the Panthers look incredibly foolish for extending his contract in the offseason.

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Panthers blow opportunity to get back into playoff chase

Anthony Stalter — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:00:42 +0000

I don’t get the Carolina Panthers.

One week after playing inspired in a 28-19 win over division rival Atlanta, the Panthers laid a dud in a 24-17 loss to the Dolphins on Thursday night in Carolina.

After they beat the Falcons, some pundits started believing in the Panthers again. Hey, why not? They beat the Cardinals in Arizona in Week 8, hung with a powerhouse Saints team in New Orleans in Week 9, and beat a good Falcons team in Week 10.

But after their performance Thursday night, it’s hard to believe that John Fox’s team will play consistent enough throughout the rest of the season to make a postseason run. Jake Delhomme is too mistake-prone, the loss of Jordan Gross kills the offensive line (the Dolphins sacked Delhomme four times), and the defense can’t stop the run.

At best, this is a 7-9 Panthers team. They’ll play hard enough for Fox to stay somewhat alive in the Wild Card race, but they blew a huge opportunity this week to earn a victory at home and put pressure on the Falcons to win in New York (vs. the Giants) on Sunday.

On the other side, the Dolphins still have a pulse at 5-5. Granted, given that they play in a tough AFC they don’t have much of a pulse, but considering they’re still alive without Chad Pennington and Ronnie Brown is quite an accomplishment.

Ricky Williams really stepped up in the absence of Brown, rushing for 119 yards with two touchdowns on 22 carries. He also caught two passes for 19 yards and a touchdown, which proves he can be multi-dimensional.

My TSR cohort John Paulsen made a good point the other day in that Williams doesn’t have the same wear and tear on him as most 32-year olds, given that he was out of football for a couple years. He won’t have the opportunity to face a suspect Carolina front seven every week, but if he continues to run the way he did on Thursday night then he’ll give Miami a chance to win on most game days.

Fox taking a huge risk sticking with Delhomme

Anthony Stalter — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:19:22 +0000

For the past couple days, I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out why in the world the Panthers would stick with Jake Delhomme at quarterback.

To say that Delhomme has struggled this year would be a gross understatement. He is 2-4 as a starter, is leading the league in interceptions and has somehow found a way to make explosive receiver Steve Smith non-existent. So why stick with him instead of giving A.J. Feeley or Matt Moore an opportunity?

One reason is because the Panthers have so much money invested in Delhomme after they signed him to a five-year, $42.5 million extension in April. They thought Delhomme would shake off his brutal performance in last year’s playoffs and at the very least, be able to turn around and hand the ball off to DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.

But Delhomme has been a disaster thus far and head coach John Fox is taking a huge risk in sticking with him. If Delhomme continues to struggle and Fox doesn’t make a move, then he’s basically saying to upper management that he can’t evaluate his own players Neither Feeley nor Moore would come in and light the world on fire, but as long as they didn’t turn the ball over they’d be more efficient than Delhomme.

Fox better hope Delhomme turns things around or else they both could be gone at the end of the year. The Panthers have been a model organization for inconsistency under Fox and I highly doubt management would stick with a head coach that can’t make a change when one is needed. Fox is essentially putting all his eggs in the Jake Delhomme basket and that’s a risky endeavor to say the least.

Panthers in hell of their own making in regards to Delhomme

Anthony Stalter — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:27:48 +0000

In the offseason, the Carolina Panthers thought that it wasn’t wise to start developing a young quarterback under Jake Delhomme, even after the veteran turned the ball over 586 times during the playoffs last year. Instead, the Panthers signed Delhomme to a five-year, $42.5 million contract extension through 2014.

We’re not even halfway through the 2009 season and Delhomme has been as bad this year as he was on that fateful night in Charlotte last January. Right now, he’s on pace to throw a whopping 35 interceptions and ranks dead last in the league in passer rating.

After his brutal effort in a loss to the Bills yesterday, head coach John Fox wouldn’t commit to Delhomme being the team’s starter in Week 8. The problem Fox has is that Matt Moore and A.J. Feeley are listed behind Delhomme on the depth chart, so it’s not like he has a viable option even if he wanted to replace Horrendous Jake.

The Panthers absolutely dominated the Bills 425 to 167 in total net yards, yet because of Delhomme’s three interceptions they couldn’t beat a below average Buffalo team. Save for his injury-plagued 2007 season, the sad part is that Delhomme hasn’t been consistently good in four years. The running game bailed him out last year or else the Panthers wouldn’t have made the playoffs.

Fox and his coaching staff should have realized that Delhomme’s better days were behind him and should have done something about it in one of the past two drafts (if not one of the last three drafts). Now they’re left with either Moore or Feeley if they want to replace him, which means the Panthers can kiss the rest of the season goodbye.

Giving Delhomme an extension in the offseason was foolish. Not having the foresight to develop another quarterback behind him is flat out inexcusable.