Why did Delhomme suck so bad this year?

[hepcat]

Yes, yes, another Quarterback thread. Well all I can say is, give mine a chance.

Well I think Delhomme really just got old. The thing about Jake, he is really streaky. Even in game, he'd be up and down, all the time. Sometimes he made great Favre-eque gunslinger throws to Smith that would be a huge play. Sometimes he'd throw into triple coverage and be picked for 6. But for most of Panther memory, he made the throws when it mattered most. Not in '09. Jake was turning the ball over almost every possession. He just couldn't compete anymore.

With arguably the most dangerous and most productive running game in football, almost any other starting QB in the league would have dominated with Steve Smith at their disposal. Especially in today's NFL where old passing records are being shattered. Ten 4,000 yard passers, five with a rating over 100.00 (Peyton Manning sixth with 99.9). And the running game on those teams isn't exactly great. New NFL coverage rules, limiting contact to 5 yards past the line of scrimmage, have revolutionized the NFL's passing game. With Carolina's running game to force the defense to stack the line, any QB should have had a career year. At least a mediocre year. But no. Delhomme decided to fossilize and not only lose games, but lose in embarrassing fashion. I just don't get it...

Gotta be crazy to put that man back onto the field.

[OneBadassCat]

I think Delhomme just got lazy as a player. He just doesn't look sharp out there. He would be better if he had kept someone around to push him. His arm may or may not be starting to fade but mentally he hesitates too much and he doesn't see open WR's and he locks on to receivers as well.

[err456]

Gotta be crazy to put that man back onto the field

"crazy like a fox"

[Darth Biscuit]

I don't think it's because he's old or that he got lazy... I think that he's got mental issues... like a golfer with the yips... he freezes up mentally and loses it during the play. That's a much harder thing to fix than an injury.

[E CaT PanTHer]

I don't think it's because he's old or that he got lazy... I think that he's got mental issues... like a golfer with the yips... he freezes up mentally and loses it during the play. That's a much harder thing to fix than an injury.

Yeah, that's the biggest thing I noticed. He just seemed scared every time he dropped back to pass. It always looked like he was trying to rush his throws b/c he felt the pressure coming when there was actually no one near him. He just lost his ability to stand in the pocket and make that last second throw even if it meant him getting hit. That's what made him a great QB in the past.

[Kakarot]

I've seen it coming for years. It's too bad the FO didnt see it before they gave him that horrible contract. They should've saw it coming in 2005, but even if they didnt see it then, they definitely should've saw it during '08.

Anyways, he sucks because I dont think he's able really been able to read defenses, and he would lock unto Steve Smith way too much. Luckily for him, Smitty was able to bail him out more than a few times. He's never been that accurate, and if you sack him a couple times...its over. Homie gets happy feet and he's taken out of the game, mentally. He went from average to garbage, hot gah-bage! Not only has he sucked this year, he's probably stunted the growth of some of our WR's. I dont think our WR's are horrible, I think it has a lot to do with Jake.

I still cant get over two 1,000 yd rushers, a top 10 defense, and we still didnt make the playoffs.

If he has the yips, or whatever ya'll are talking about, they need to go ahead and cut him because he's not going to get over that.

[OneBadassCat]

Yeah, that's the biggest thing I noticed. He just seemed scared every time he dropped back to pass. It always looked like he was trying to rush his throws b/c he felt the pressure coming when there was actually no one near him. He just lost his ability to stand in the pocket and make that last second throw even if it meant him getting hit. That's what made him a great QB in the past.

Which I think could be attributed to him getting complacent as a player. In a lot of ways Steve Smith has spoiled him. Hell his best game last year was at SD when it forced him to look at other option.

[SMACKDAB]

Ok.

[raleigh-panther]

If a team has a turn-over machine at QB, it doesn't matter the reason.

That team is going no where.

Teams in the NFL are too evenly matched to spot 1-5 turn-overs a game. Everyone knows this.

I don't really care why Jake sucks. I just know he does.

[SorthNarolina]

His accuracy went down and really our recievers aren't good enough to make up for his awful play. He was only really great from 03-05, players with his talent have a very limited window of their prime. As opposed to guys like peppers who will be in his prime pretty until the end of his career.

in 03-05 delhome threw accurate balls to open recievers and only had bad games when he got pressured.

06-07 he regressed a bit, even though he started out well in 07 who knows what would have happend.

In 08 his accuracy really went down. The reason he always "put the ball where steve could get it", as the announcers would say is pretty much because few WR's adjust to the ball like smitty. Throw the ball anywhere near him and he'll get it. Some of his biggest plays to smitty were horrible passes. Greenbay and 1st saints game come to mind, those plays were 110% smitty, i say 110% because he had to make up for the -10% of delhomes pass. I wanted to believe that delhome truly knew what he was doing but 09 shows he was just getting lucky.

He's definately done here.

Heres a question I have, does anybody think due to the uncapped year we might restructure delhomes contract and keep him as a #2? There probably aren't too many good backups on the market, even though the uncapped year means we can get a pretty good one without having to worry about the money?

[PantherDude]

I don't think it's because he's old or that he got lazy... I think that he's got mental issues... like a golfer with the yips... he freezes up mentally and loses it during the play. That's a much harder thing to fix than an injury.

Same here. I never buy into that he is stinking lately because he's old (Warner & Favre will tell you otherwise ). I think he lost the mentality edge that made him great in the past. That or maybe he's afraid of hurting his arm again after what happend when he got the surgery later on.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

The Panthers' 2009 season was pretty much a case study in how shitty quarterback play can bring an otherwise good team to a grinding halt.

[raleigh-panther]

Amen

[Snake]

He was not all that great in 08 but cause we played a week schedule and the fact we has such good backs you didn't see much of it till Playoffs. His accuracy has just been horrible since his surgery and that's just not gonna get better. His decision making did fall off but that was less of a factor then not being able to hit the WR when needed.