Jake Delhomme?
Those of us who have been watching (the debacle that is Delhomme) the Carolina offense of late, have been sick to our stomaches for one good reason.....their QB is TERRIBLE! This season he has had more brutal outings than the cast of Survivor, leaving fans and fantasy owners everywhere screaming..........replace this bum!
If there wasn't so much of a win now philosophy coming from Carolina's front office, who gave Jake a big extension after his playoff debacle last year. I am surprised they wouldn't have made a move to aquire some talent at the position (no...I'm not), but they have handicapped themselves by signing Jake and trading away their first-round picks. This team is currently in a strong transition to the basement without someone to lead them through the air and take some pressure off the running-game. It seems as though the morale is getting sucked out of this franchise quickly, Steve Smith and Deangelo Williams have obviously been affected and frustrated in Jake's ability to turn the ball over.
Steve Smith has currently stated he is no longer apart of the dynamics that make this Panthers offense one of the more talented groups in the NFL, that can't be a good sign for what's to come if Jake continues to feed the ball to opponents on a regular basis. It is so obvious that this is a group lacking in the most important part of an offense, at the QB position. If John Fox is unhappy with the way Jake is playing, then put someone else in! Don't let one terrible player ruin everything that you have worked all off-season for, sit him and tell him why....hell, show him why! He is clearly a joke to all defensive secondary's and is making the heart and soul of your scoring production (the run game) nearly non-existent, when teams are stacking the box consistently.
It looks like the Panthers will have a lot to chew on throughout the course of the year, but this isn't as bad as it looks... is it? With a franchise WR (Steve Smith), two franchise RB's (Williams and Stewart) and an up and coming TE (Dante Rosario) to go with a good O-line, this team is clearly ahead of the game. If there was one aspect of a football team you can't be short of depth at, it's at QB. Now that Jake is falling out of favor in everyones eyes around the NFL, it's time to start considering a new-look at the QB position.
John Fox has currently stated that Delhomme gives his team the best chance to win.....well, I beg to differ. You could put a tube of toothpaste behind centre and it would have a better chance of scaring opponents.What have you got to lose? Are they scared the backup QB might not be able to make a hand-off without fumbling 20 times a game? I am unsure of the thinking process behind this situation, and am hopeful Jake Delhomme finally just apologizes to his team and quits the game of football.....but he won't!
Last week Carolina reeled off another win, but in that game I saw something that was truly disturbing if you are a fan of Carolina. What I saw was a QB who looked to have faked an injury (chest contusion, apparently nothing wrong now! ) in the third while his team was winning. Could that have been Jake's way of pulling himself from a game before he gave it away? When he went to the sidelines he looked fine, walking around with a look that seemed to spell relief more than any kind of pain.
This week Delhomme practiced in full without limitations of any kind....so how hurt was he? You're not fooling anyone Jake, if you're QB can't play through a chest pain (look at Andre Johnson who had to be pulled from the game against his will after coughing up blood on the sidelines) there is a problem!
The real question is....did Jake Delhomme fake an injury to avoid a disaster in the final half of the game? I think so, do you?
