Suddenly, I have more respect for Jimmy Clausen.

A couple of days ago, a news (and I use that word loosely here) story broke that first overall pick Cam Newton wants to wear No. 2 in the pros, just as he did at Auburn. The problem is that number already belongs to Clausen, who told the media on Tuesday that he wasn’t willing to give it up.

“It’s mine right now,” Clausen told the Charlotte Observer. “We’ll see what happens.”

Apparently Clausen hinted that he’s willing to give up the number if Newton was willing to pay for it. Considering Newton will receive a huge signing bonus once the lockout ends, a number of people in Clausen’s shoes would probably do the same thing.

Hey rookie, if you want the number, pony up for it.

Based on what I’ve read, it doesn’t sound like Newton demanded Clausen to give up the number like some are suggesting. He was probably asked if he wanted to wear No. 2 in the pros and he answered yes. He may have not even known that Clausen wore that number last year.

But if this does become an issue, you have to wonder if that scathing report that Pro Football Weekly’s Nolan Nawrocki wrote back in March is starting to come to fruition.

SI.com’s Don Banks is reporting that Panthers’ GM Marty Hurney is the only member of the team’s front office or coaching staff who still has faith in Jimmy Clausen as a potential starter.

Banks writes, “Everyone else in Carolina, and many coaches and personnel men around the league for that matter, thinks the Panthers have to draft a franchise quarterback this year.”

Ouch.

For those who watched Clausen play last year, this is hardly surprising news. But even though I’m not a believer myself, for God’s sake he only started 10 games last year and it’s not like he had much around him. He was absolutely horrible, I know. But is it just me or do other young players usually get the benefit of the doubt at this stage in their career?

That said, I do think the Panthers will draft a quarterback at No. 1. Ron Rivera will want to build around a signal caller that he had a hand selecting, although if Carolina does take a QB at No. 1 then Hurney will basically be admitting that taking Clausen in the second round last year was a mistake. He also foolishly traded this year’s second round pick so that he could reach for Armanti Edwards last April, so Hurney’s head is firmly placed on the chopping block.

The good news for Clausen is that unless the team releases him this offseason (which is doubtful), he’ll have a chance to prove everyone wrong this summer. Even if the Panthers take a quarterback at No. 1, Clausen will be given the opportunity to beat him out in camp because coaches are always hesitant on handing the job over to a rookie. Clausen will just have to man up and take the position if he wants it.

When a team suffers a loss and needs a good pick-me-up, the Carolina Panthers often offer the perfect remedy.

A week after losing at home against the Jets, the Steelers rebounded on Thursday night to beat the Panthers 27-3. Ben Roethlisberger completed 22-of-32 passes for 320 yards and one touchdown, while also adding a second score on the ground. On his lone passing touchdown of the night, he read blitz and quickly hit Mike Wallace for a 43-yard score to give Pittsburgh an early 10-0 lead. Thanks to the Panthers’ brutalness, the Steelers went on to collect their easiest win of the year.

With the win, Pittsburgh is now in position to wrap up the AFC North and clinch a bye in the first round of the playoffs if it can beat Cleveland on January 2. And actually, the Browns could help the Steelers well in advance if they can knock off the Ravens this Sunday in Cleveland.

As for the Panthers, the season couldn’t end fast enough for them and John Fox. Their roster is so devoid of talent and it’s tough to evaluate young players like Jimmy Clausen when he has no support around him. Carolina’s running game isn’t bad, but who does Clausen have to throw to? Defenses double-team Steve Smith, leaving Clausen to throw to fellow rookies who are trying to learn the game along with him. And forget protection – Clausen doesn’t have any.

Of course, by this time one would think he would look a little better than he has. He has little to no pocket presence and his accuracy is suspect at best. His decision-making might be coming along a little, but he still does some things that make you want to pull your hair out (like taking a sack on a 4th and 5 in the second quarter instead of just heaving one in the direction of a receiver). Maybe he’ll develop into a solid starter one day but as of right now, he’s showed zero signs of developing. (Again, that’s not all his fault either.)

The Panthers will have an awfully different look to them next season, that’s for sure.

This is the second installment of my new column: “I’m Just Saying.” Peter King has a column (Monday Morning Quarterback), so it only makes sense that a well-respected sports blogger like myself has a column as well.

What-ev.

- So let me get this straight, the NFL moved the Giants-Vikings game to a NFC North city and is handing out free tickets? If I’m the Vikings, I’m pissed. Nice home game for Minnesota – think any Lion fans will get sauced up and attend the game for free just to root against the Vikings?

- Of course, if the roof of the Metrodome weren’t made of paper mache, the Vikings wouldn’t have to worry about playing at Ford Field.

- Does anyone else find it ironic that Sal Alosi’s job as the Jets’ head strength and conditioning coach is to help players get in shape and avoid injuries and he goes out and trips a Dolphins player…who gets injured? You stay classy, Sal Alosi.

- I’m willing to bet that if the Patriots played all of their games in a blizzard, they would be 19-0 and will have beaten their opponents by a combined score of 855-17.

- The Titans’ backdoor cover against the Colts on Thursday night was one of the worst backdoor covers in the history of backdoor covers. First of all, Indy was up 21-0 in the first half. So what should have been a blowout actually turned into a decent game because their defense is made of Charmin extra soft tissue paper. After they allowed Tennessee to crawl back in the second half, Peyton Manning had not one, but two chances to waste the clock and move the ball and he did neither. Then, with the Colts up by 10 in the final minutes of the game (they were favored by 3), Jeff Fisher trots out Rob Bironas for a field goal attempt but calls him back instead. He decides to put his offense back onto the field and Kerry Collins marches the Titans up the field for a touchdown on the final play of the game (a 4th down no less) and covers the spread. If Fisher were actually trying to win the game, he would have kicked the field goal and tried an onsides kick (he needed 10 points, after all). But because he was trying to screw bettors (which is the only logical explanation here), he decided to go for the touchdown and run the clock down to zero in the process. Final score: Colts 30, Titans 28. Thanks, Jeff.

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Rookie quarterbacks struggle in the NFL – it’s part of the game. But it says something when a rookie is benched for another signal caller who compiled a 41.8 passer rating in his first two starts of the season and who has generally looked awful himself.

The Panthers announced Monday that they’ll start Matt Moore over rookie Jimmy Clausen this Sunday against the 49ers. It’s a move that indicates that John Fox and his coaching staff don’t believe that Clausen is ready to lead a bad team with very little around him (the Panthers are awfully thin at receiver).

The unfortunate part here is that Clausen was regarded as the most “NFL-ready” quarterback prospect in April because he played under Charlie Weis at Notre Dame. Now, this doesn’t mean that he’s destined to fail in the NFL and keep in mind that the Panthers became the first NFL team since 1999 to start a rookie quarterback and two rookie receivers when Clausen, Brandon LaFell and David Gettis all started in Week 5 against the Bears.

But it is concerning how unprepared Clausen was in his first taste of NFL action. He failed to move the offense, he never got into rhythm and he displayed little to no accuracy. It’s not fair to compare all rookie quarterbacks because no two situations are similar, but Sam Bradford appears to be light years ahead of Clausen and he didn’t play in a pro style offense at Oklahoma. (He’s also working with a limited receiver corps in St. Louis.) Granted, he was also the top pick in the draft, but Clausen hasn’t shown anything yet to make you believe he can be a starting quarterback.

That said, it’s still early and it’s not like he has the best coaching staff around him in Carolina. This wouldn’t be the first time that Fox mismanaged his quarterback situation and it stands to reason that Clausen just needs a couple of more starts under his belt to figure things out. But seeing as how he won’t get them unless Moore is a disaster again (which could happen), he’ll have to hone his craft in practice.

The Jimmy Clausen era isn’t over with in Carolina, but it isn’t off to a great start either.

With Jay Cutler out and the I-can’t-believe-dude-is-this-bad Todd Collins in, Mike Martz knew he had to change his offensive philosophy for Sunday’s game against the Panthers.

So for the first time ever in his career, Martz ran the football. And he ran the football. And he ran, and ran, and continued to run until the Bears managed to scoop up a dominating 23-6 win. And thanks to Martz’s dedication to the run game, Matt Forte had an opportunity to be the hero and that’s exactly what he was.

Forte rushed 22 times for a career-high 166 yards and two touchdowns, which included a score on the first drive of the game on an 18-yard scamper. He also added a 68-yard score later in the first quarter to give Chicago a 14-3 lead.

It was rather impressive that the Panthers knew the Bears had to run to win and they still couldn’t stop Forte. Collins was just as bad as everyone feared (he completed only 6-of-16 passes and threw four interceptions), but it didn’t matter because Chicago grabbed an early lead and never looked back. Collins kept Carolina in the game, but thanks to Forte and Jimmy Clausen, the Bears never trailed.

At 4-1, the Bears now have sole possession of the NFC North.

Back in April, some pundits felt as though Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen had first round talent. But good luck trying to find anyone who will admit that now.

Rookie quarterbacks struggle in the NFL – it’s just the way it is. But so far, Clausen has played in all five of the Panthers’ games and has completed just 34 of his 69 pass attempts for 393 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Worse than his numbers is the fact that he’s shown zero ability to move Carolina’s offense whatsoever.

The Bears (Carolina’s opponent on Sunday) have a solid defense and they’re liable to make any quarterback look bad. And hey, if I started against Chicago today, I’d probably crap down my pants, too. But with the way Clausen played in his team’s 23-6 loss on Sunday, it makes you wonder what John Fox and Co. saw in him to make him a second round pick in April.

Clausen completed just 9-of-22 passes for 61 yards and an interception before finally being benched in the fourth quarter. He showed zero accuracy, displayed no rhythm and was rarely on the same page with his receivers. I get that he’s only a rookie, but he hasn’t shown anything that would indicate that he actually belongs in a starting role.

You hate to pin a loss on one player, but because Clausen was so ineffective, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart had nowhere to run and even though the defense picked off Todd Collins (who may have played even worse than Clausen if that’s possible) four times, the Panthers still only managed six points. It’s almost like Clausen’s putrid play had a domino affect on the rest of the team and it doesn’t say a lot about Matt Moore’s game that the Panthers would rather go with the rookie than with him.

Of course, it’s not like Clausen has much to work with in the receiving game. Steve Smith was out with an injury, although one would have thought that Clausen would apperciate that seeing as how Smith has torn him a new one at least once a day since the rookie arrived to Carolina. The Panthers’ wideouts are young and inexperienced, although again, Clausen has shown almost zero intangibles to this point. Most of the time you can say, “That rookie QB makes a lot of mistakes, but you can see the zip on his passes,” or “He just needs a little time to mature, but you can see that he’s accurate and has control of the huddle.”

We’ve got crickets on Clausen.

Today was a new low for the Panthers and it may be a while before they pick up their first win.

Telephone conversations with my satellite company last longer than Matt Moore’s tenure as starting quarterback with the Panthers. After another brutal performance on Sunday in a loss to the Bucs, John Fox has decided to bench Moore and insert rookie Jimmy Clausen into the starting lineup.

Clausen replaced Moore during the fourth quarter yesterday and he went on to complete 7-of-13 passes for 59 yards and one interception. Outside of a nice first down throw to receiver Steve Smith, the rookie struggled in the passing game, which tells you something if Fox is willing to go with him over Moore against the Bengals this week. Clearly the coaching staff doesn’t believe that Moore gives the Panthers the best chance to win.

With a rookie starting, Carolina will lean even heavier on running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to win games. The duo combined to rush for 97 yards on 25 carries against Tampa, although without the threat of the pass the Bucs loaded up the box to take away the run. The Panthers can expect more opponents to do the same thing unless Clausen can make immediate strides in the passing game.

The knock on Clausen coming out of Notre Dame was that he lacked leadership skills and that’s why he dropped out of the first round of April’s draft. It’ll be interesting to see how things play out now that he’s a starter and whether or not Fox will stick with him if he struggles early on.

Matt Moore and Kevin Kolb have more in common today than they did at the start of the day yesterday.

That’s because they both played poorly on Sunday and each suffered concussions that now leave them uncertain for Week 2. Kolb was replaced by a very effective Michael Vick in a loss to Green Bay, while Moore is currently being backed up by a rookie that some are clamoring to see get some live game action (especially after Moore looked so bad in a loss to the Giants yesterday).

Today, head coach John Fox told the media that if he’s healthy enough to play, Moore would start against the Buccaneers this Sunday. But at this point, nobody should assume anything. Moore was atrocious against the Giants, throwing three horrendous picks and taking four sacks. He completed just 14-of-33 passes for 182 yards and never got settled in the pocket. It’s important not to draw any concussions after one game, but so far it’s the only game.

Jimmy Clausen will likely receive snaps in the first team offense this week in practice and Moore will be evaluated over the next couple of days. The NFL now has a strict policy against players returning from concussions, so even if Fox wants Moore to play he may not be medically cleared to. Just like the Kolb situation in Philadelphia, this is will be an interesting story to keep an eye on throughout the week.