Matt Moore gets Hurt and Jimmy has to play out the season.... What Happens?

[Khyber53]

If Moore is injured, they will put Claussen in. And we'll have a streak of four or five really rough games as he gets used to the tempo and competition of the pro game. By the end of that sixth game, we'll know what we have in him: hero or goat. There just isn't any other way to evaluate a quarterback than to give him time to play.

No matter how "professional" of a college offense they ran, or who they played against, they are not prepared for what they are going to face. In the Civil War, they referred to first contact with combat as "seeing the elephant." That means that you can hear all about elephants, learn everything known about them, see pictures of them, but until you are in the presence of one you just have no real idea of how huge, powerful and strange they are.

Claussen hasn't seen the elephant yet. He might smack the thing around, climb on its back and ride it around with a big Tarzan yell. Or he might just crap his pants. In the first scenario, yahoo... in the second, no biggie, unless he's still dropping the deuce in his shorts by the sixth game. (David Carr anyone?)

Let's hope Moore stays healthy.

[panthers55]

What happens if Moore gets hurt and Clausen has to start.

Bad Things man, bad things...........................

[MadHatter]

All depends on how the defense plays.

I think Clausen could come in with our OL, Running Game, and WR's and perform much like Flacco or Sanchez did their rookie seasons. If the defense is top half, then we would be looking at 8-8 or 9-7.

[Jpjr]

All depends on how the defense plays.

I think Clausen could come in with our OL, Running Game, and WR's and perform much like Flacco or Sanchez did their rookie seasons. If the defense is top half, then we would be looking at 8-8 or 9-7.

Agreed, great point.

[sorry for repeating myself here from another post]

Clausen was 6-6 last year because of a TERRIBLE defense. I mean MISERABLE... go check the stats. He put the team in a position to win every single game. It was never an issue of scoring, I keep referencing his last college game against Stanford where he threw 5 TDs and 0 picks and his defense still managed to blow the game. I was at that game and it was an aerial assault to watch.. yet got no press because of Gerhart's equally brilliant play and Heisman run.

I am really excited to see what happens when you stick this kid on a team with a very good line and decent skill players . He will have his share of rookie mistakes but he has proven he can play well with the hand he is dealt. (I would not say that about Bradford, The Golden Calf of Bristol, or McCoy, who played on loaded teams). The most important issue to me with Clausen at QB will be how well the defense plays. Do they force him to put up 30+ points a game? Do they create turnovers? Do they force him to air it out without establishing the run?

As someone mentioned Mark Sanchez turned into a savior in New York when he really didn't have that good of a season. But the Jets rushing and attack and defense allowed him to manage the game and not force plays most of the time. He still managed to get himself hurt but one thing Clausen has never pretended to be is mobile

[Sandy Claws]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=5373081

Q: You and Pat Yasinskas have consistently stated that Jimmy Clausen will win the Panthers' starting QB job. Where's the love for Matt Moore? All he did is go 6-2 overall as a starter last season, including 4-1 during the final five games.

Russ in Reno, Nev.

A: Moore is a great story in the sense he was undrafted and has a chance to start. But Clausen has more talent. That's why he went in the second round and Moore was undrafted. Talent usually prevails, although other undrafted quarterbacks, such as Tony Romo and Kurt Warner, have succeeded. Like Moore, Shaun Hill had a similar winning record heading into last season. As the season went on, though, he proved he was just a good backup and the 49ers made a switch. Teams study film and find the holes in a quarterback's game. If Moore starts the season, watch how teams will load up on the right side, because Moore doesn't throw as accurately to the left as he does to the right. I think Moore will start the season and Clausen will end up starting.

[stankowalski]

Damn, I can just imagine them in 6 years. Mine are still in the toilet and I'm in the den...

I'm getting there myself. When I start out taking a shower I have to use cold water for the first 3 or 4 minutes so my sack shrinks enough to get my balls in the tub.

[Jpjr]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=5373081

As I keep saying, people keeping talking about Moore as a game manager and not effing things up. No one really asserts that he went out there and won games based upon a superior passing attack. Sooner or later the game managers get exposed and the downfield threats rise to the top. If Moore is going to start all season he simply needs to show he is adding to the offense and not just making other players better.

[panthers55]

Most right handed quarterbacks throw better to the right than to the left which is across their bodies. Of Brees 34 passing TDs, 4 were thrown to the left side and 24 were thrown to the right side. I guess now that teams figured that out, Brees is doomed as well.

Meanwhile Moore threw 3 on the left side and 4 on the right side. By percentage he threw 48% to the left sideline, 60% to the left side, 61% to the middle, 70% to the right side, and 65% to the right sideline.

Problem is that he didn't attempt a pass more than 27 times to any part of the field but the right sideline where it was a whopping 46 times. Not exactly a large percentage from which to draw conclusions from.

[pantherclaw]

I don't care how well our run game and defense plays. I don't want to see a rookie qb on the field unless it is the only option left.

Clausen could come out and play well, or he could come out and be the most inconsistent part of our team.

That being said, I'll cheer for whomever is oout there.

[SorthNarolina]

I don't care how well our run game and defense plays. I don't want to see a rookie qb on the field unless it is the only option left.

Clausen could come out and play well, or he could come out and be the most inconsistent part of our team.

That being said, I'll cheer for whomever is oout there.

Yeah I totally agree. A rookie QB not making stupid throws would stop the world from turning. It just doesn't matter. There is a god somewhere that forces them to do this.

Last year's Jets is the most ideal situation a rookie QB could ever be in. 1st ranked run game, 1st ranked defense, and 32nd in passing attempts. All this and Sanchez still couldn't keep from imploding every now and then.

[Zod]

Nice to see some people are still butt hurt over Delhomme getting canned.

[Sandy Claws]

Most right handed quarterbacks throw better to the right than to the left which is across their bodies. Of Brees 34 passing TDs, 4 were thrown to the left side and 24 were thrown to the right side. I guess now that teams figured that out, Brees is doomed as well.

Meanwhile Moore threw 3 on the left side and 4 on the right side. By percentage he threw 48% to the left sideline, 60% to the left side, 61% to the middle, 70% to the right side, and 65% to the right sideline.

Problem is that he didn't attempt a pass more than 27 times to any part of the field but the right sideline where it was a whopping 46 times. Not exactly a large percentage from which to draw conclusions from.

Using TD passes for your arguement makes no sense. A lot of that is after the catch by the reciever. Percentage would make for a logical point but you only chose to show Moore's. Since you started comparing him to Brees, he was ~67% to the left sideline, and 64% to the right sideline. If I'm defending against Moore, an obvious tactic to try would be to focus the best coverage to the right to see if he can beat weaker coverage to the left. That's not an option with Brees, based on the only stats available.

[Woodcookedbbq]

Nice to see some people are still butt hurt over Delhomme getting canned.

They can become a Browns fan. Problem solved.

[panthers55]

Using TD passes for your arguement makes no sense. A lot of that is after the catch by the reciever. Percentage would make for a logical point but you only chose to show Moore's. Since you started comparing him to Brees, he was ~67% to the left sideline, and 64% to the right sideline. If I'm defending against Moore, an obvious tactic to try would be to focus the best coverage to the right to see if he can beat weaker coverage to the left. That's not an option with Brees, based on the only stats available.

Actually TDs make sense since if you were trying to defend a team would you care as much whether they threw a bunch of passes short or where they threw deep or which receivers had the ability to burn you deep after the catch. You really think that it was just a fluke that Brees threw 3 times as many touchdowns to the right as he did to the left?? If you were deciding to skew your defense to play Brees, wouldn't you line up your free safety to defend the right side of the field all things considered.

You also have to look at the number of times we rolled Moore out to the right during the game. Obviously rolling him out takes away the left side of the field and by design he will only have the right side of the field to throw to. if you take away his designed plays to the right, I suspect the percentages are more even.

And if you try to skew your coverage to the right against Moore, I will line up Smith on the left side and have a field day burning your weakest corner all day long.