Clausen's fall to second round and Panthers gets personal

[rmoneyg35]

Also in the article

Let's start with Carolina. In Clausen, the Panthers gained the second-best quarterback in the draft, someone who played through a painful injury last year yet was remarkably accurate, completing 68 percent of his passes, with 28 touchdowns and only four interceptions.

That was good.

He also played in Charlie Weis' pro-style system, so he was the quarterback who was most ready to step into an NFL huddle. That was good, too.

Furthermore, he moves on to a team where the offense is almost identical to what Clausen ran in Notre Dame, with coordinator Jeff Davidson working under Weis when the two were at New England, and that might be the best of all.

Also read this for the haters on clausen

http://www.fftoolbox.com/nfl_draft/profile_display.cfm?prospect_id=2387&page=2

I didn't know he played injured last year I thought he was hurt the last game or something. Jeff Davidson will play a huge role in his development and because Davidson was taught under Charlie Weis's offense Jimmy should have no trouble learning the offense. Jimmy was sacked 24 times in 12 games which isn't horrible the offensive line wasn't great, ND had a horrible run game which leaves the offensive up to the passing game. Clausen's weapons consisted only 2 good receivers and one big tight end. We have a much better but similar set of receivers with Smith who is a speedy receiver like Tate and we have 2-3 possession receivers like Floyd with Jarrett, LaFell and Gettis we have a great trio of tight ends with the possibility of 2 more unproven wide receivers that have speed, Jackson and Edwards.

No as the character issue goes do you actually think that Notre Dame would tell the panthers that Clausen's character is bad? I just don't see them saying anything to put the kid down and hurt his position in the draft. I can't believe that anyone would think that if Clausen had character issues that ND would tell NFL teams that.

[thefuzz]

Lets all just pray for a Rivers/Rodgers situation.

If that happens, we could very well say goodbye to the up and downs that this franchise has come to believe is the only way.

[rayzor]

No...some teams certainly passed on him because of potential off the field issues...

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/05/panthers-putting-faith-in-clausens-personality.html

lol chicago fans(and reporters) trying to divert attention away from their own prick QB hoping that they aren't alone.

at least we didn't give up 2 first round picks, a third round pick, and a serviceable QB who did better than and won more than the guy you got.

talk about fail.

anyone realize that there have been 3 first round picks spent on cutler? who here thinks he is anything close to being worth that? thanks but i'll take clausen and all his alleged issues over cutler and all his heavily documented emo issues any day.

[Woodie]

The salient point here is the fact that there has been no conformation of any attitude, cancerous behavior, overly large sense of self importance, or any other of the questions about his character that have been floated out there. Everything we've heard has been that there are rumors and that people hear this or they hear that, but never anything concrete or first hand. In fact, to me, it sounds like a lot of people were looking as much to prove the negatives as find out the truth. Case in point, look at the Gruden interview. Let’s say that was Bradford instead of Clausen, nobody would have thought much about it. It would have been written off as him just explaining what happened, but since it was Clausen, and most people were already preconditioned to look for character issues in everything he does, they saw the interview as him throwing his receiver under the bus.

I also think it’s important to remember that Notre Dame is a Catholic school, and as such, many there tend to be fairly conservative. And a brash young football player could definitely rub some people the wrong way. So it’s no surprise that some people on campus might not have been huge fans of his. But it’s also just as important to remember that many of his teammates came out in support of him, and talked about him as a great leader. Many of them also came out to his pro-day to support and cheer him on when they didn’t have to. You don’t typically see that with someone that was a bad leader or that regularly pissed off his teammates. So sometimes it’s the little details that tell the true story, not some random rumors that were likely started by those with an agenda.

[rmoneyg35]

Rumors? explain his black eye? that was no rumor.

[monstercat]

Rumors? explain his black eye? that was no rumor.

So getting sucker punched at a bar proves that Clausen is a bad guy?

[evanownsyou]

I absolutely love that everyone hates him. Love it.

I hope he wins the starting job and turns this team into a perennial SB contender.

For far too long we've just been a blip on everyone's radar - a good team, but really quite a boring one. Picking up a great QB that everyone but us hates is exactly what this franchise needs.

i completely agree. the only problem is i love matt moore too.

[rayzor]

Rumors? explain his black eye? that was no rumor.

So getting sucker punched at a bar proves that Clausen is a bad guy?

getting sucker punched by a drunk and angry notre dame fan outside of a bar after a loss who was accosting your girlfriend and you tried to separate yourself and your girlfriend from...not sure that makes him a bad guy.

[mj4life]

i think most of us agree that clausen is a love'em or hate'em type of guy, his preppy,pretty boy persona irrates alot of people who won't like him just because of that alone then throw in the fact that he is a good player just adds fuel to the fire(think j. gordon or j. johnson)

[rayzor]

people have a bias against him.

comes from a rich family.

he's incredibly more talented than you.

he went to notre dame (viewed like duke by many people...you go there you must think you're better than me).

[guyinchesapeake]

Gee, a 'cocky' QB who played at a high profile, storied college football program. Who'd of thought?

[PantherFan2000]

Inconsistent? Uh... yeah, sure.

I'm a Notre Dame fan. I've watched every Notre Dame game for the past 10 years.

Jimmy Clausen, in his last two years at Notre Dame, passed for almost 7000 yards, 53 TD, 21 INT, with about 65% completion.

In his final season at Notre Dame, he threw for more than 3700 yards, 28 TD, 4 INT, and 68% completion. That was with him having a sprained left ankle for several games!

You (the idiot media) call that inconsistent?

Oh, yeah, about his team's 6-6 record. I tell you what, look at how Notre Dame lost those games, and you'll see that only one of those losses can really be attributed to Clausen. The other 5 losses were because of the awful Notre Dame defense that allowed 30+ points in half their games. In 2009, Charlie Weis concentrated on the offense, and specifically with Clausen. He left the DC to run the defense.

As far as I am concerned, Notre Dame fired the wrong guy. They should have kept Weis, and gotten rid of the coaches that dealt with defense.

Clausen's last season benefitted greatly from direct and frequent instruction by Weis, as evidenced by his improved passing yardage, improved completion ratio, and improved TD:INT ratio.

I definitely feel Clausen will do well at the Pro level and prove all the naysayers wrong.

Cocky? So what? There are several current NFL QBs that are cocky and are great.

[MadHatter]

The bottom line is that the draft is an absolute crap shoot....especially with a QB. For every Peyton manning, there is a Ryan Leaf. For every Kurt Warner there is an Akili Smith.

Check out some of these major 1st round busts:

Art Schlichter, QB, Ohio State (4th overall, Colts, 1982)

Heath Shuler, QB, Tennessee (3rd overall, Redskins, 1994)

Kelly Stouffer, QB, Colorado State (6th overall, Cardinals, 1987)

Andre Ware, QB, Houston (7th overall, Lions, 1990)

Rich Campbell, QB, California (6th overall, Packers, 1981)

Jim Druckenmiller, QB, Virginia Tech (26th overall, 49ers, 1997)

David Klingler, QB, Houston (6th overall, Bengals, 1992)

Ryan Leaf, QB, Washington State (2nd overall, Chargers, 1998)

Todd Marinovich, QB, USC (24th overall, Raiders, 1991)

Dan McGwire, QB, San Diego State (16th overall, Seahawks, 1991)

Rick Mirer, QB, Notre Dame (2nd overall, Seahawks, 1993)

Akili Smith

Tim Couch

Kyle Boller

Tommy Maddux

The experts don't have a fuging clue how to evaluate a QB.

[Mr. Scot]

Kelly Stouffer, QB, Colorado State (6th overall, Cardinals, 1987)

And a temporary Panther a while back...

No mention of JaMarcus Russell? :sosp:

I wouldn't go so far as to say the experts are clueless, but I would say that quarterback is easily the hardest position to evaluate and the position which has, by far, the most difficult transition from college to pro. That's why taking one high carries so much risk.