Delhomme

Palm licking.

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80cebddc&filter=cant-miss-plays&categoryId=featured

 

Jake is inaccurate (definitely). Jake floats balls (definitely). Jake takes risks (definitely). Jake wins games (definitely). Magnus is willing to live with the mistakes, Collin doesn't like the mistakes and feel like they limit the team. I fall somewhere in the middle. I'm constantly yelling "damn that was a horrible throw" but when the game is on the line, there's only a handful of guys I'd rather have behind center.

 

LOL, that's just about a perfect analogy.

 

if you ignore his good games, John Fox is gone, we're not 7-2 in the playoffs, and our record would be below 500 every year. I've been a Jake defender, but the inaccuracy is a huge problem, and when I heard the FOX report that Jake had a dead arm, I didn't really have much of a reaction. My first thought was Ok, Deangelo, you did it against Atlanta last year, hope you're ready.

 

There is no such thing as "it." It's a myth for superstitious, ignorant fans who believe that games are won on PASSION! You say the evidence is in what he did against Green Bay, but what did he do? He didn't make a laser pass with pinpoint accuracy that beat the coverage, he threw a wounded duck up in the air and prayed to Allah that Steve Smith would make the play all by himself. Fortunately, Steve Smith did.

I call it bullshit. There is nothing whatsoever special about Jake. He has no magic, he has no voodoo, he has no "it." What you mistakenly refer to is really just a gambler's mentality. It's a "Fuck it!" attitude where he's willing to take a risk that maybe other quarterbacks wouldn't because they fear looking bad. But again, for every time that "Fuck it!" attitude has worked, there's another example of it costing us. That's why fans jokingly start every gameday thread with "Damn it, Jake."

Steve Smith is the reason you had a moment yesterday to enjoy. The pass isn't why that play was completed.

 

What makes you say that Rosenfels and Anderson aren't "it"? Both those two are basically the same player as Delhomme, only younger. They both have that "Fuck it!" attitude where they throw risky balls in crunch time. They both have won games for their teams because of it. They've both also lost games for their teams because of it. The only substantive difference between Rosenfels, Anderson, and Delhomme is that Jake Delhomme has Steve Smith.

Seriously, who has more authority to speak about quarterbacks than I do? I'm not perfect by any means, but I think I've proven over the years that I know what I'm talking about regarding quarterbacks more than anyone else here, and possibly more than anyone else who isn't employed in college or pro football. Jake Delhomme was not a budding star who just didn't get his chance in New Orleans. He didn't get the starting job there because he didn't have Steve Smith or Muhsin Muhammad, and he needs great receivers to make plays on his shitty passes. What we keep talking about, either as Delhomme's biggest strength or his greatest liability, is his willingness to throw the ball up and let his receivers make a play on it. That works when you have great (not good, not very good, just great) receivers. It doesn't work with Keary Colberts. That's why Jake would not be starting in New Orleans if they didn't have Brees. He wouldn't be starting in Tampa Bay if they didn't have Garcia. He wouldn't be starting in many places around the league.

And yes, Delhomme's willingness to take risks is an important facet of this offense, but you can get quarterbacks who are willing to let their receivers make difficult plays without taking stupid risks. Some guys can tell the difference. Jake can't. Some people want to pretend that because we had one QB with PTSD and one 44 year old fresh out of his retired rocking chair that it somehow proves how much we need Jake, when it really only proved that you shouldn't rely on a shell-shocked quarterback or someone in their mid-40s (plus, despite popular opinion to the contrary, QB play was not even the team's biggest problem last season). The Panthers have never tried to get someone to push Delhomme since he's been here. Maybe they're scared of how he would react to a quarterback controversy, but ultimately it means that we have to pray that his risks work out.

 

agreed - I've never had any confidence in Jake. Only the confidence that he will do something risky that may or may not work out. The Smitty catch Sunday could just as easily been an interception, especially if the receiver wasn't Smith.

 

I don't think they are scared he might cave. Our options were limited cap wise to whom we could bring in. We brought in David Carr because we could afford him.

If we spend big money on a veteran QB, it means Jake's gone. And that's certainly possible. Otherwise you are stuck with the David Carr's, JT O'Sullivan's, or other unproven potential Jake Delhomme's of the world.

 

Collin, 2 questions:

1) do you think Delhomme > Grossman? (Grossman seems to have that "fuck it" attitude you're describing.)

2) would you compare Steve Smith to Lynn Swann? I'm not sure I'm ready to say he's that good, Swann had Stallworth to compliment him most of his career and made defenses cover both sides of the field.