My Steve Smith NFL Blog

Jimmy Clausen certainly seems to have the swagger of a champion. He has spent an ample amount of time saying the right things around the Carolina Panthers training sessions, and the Panthers have not said a whole lot about who will be leading the Panthers into the 2010 season. They named Matt Moore as the starter during the offseason, but that was before they used their top draft pick to draft Notre Dame product Jimmy Clausen. Since then, they have been largely quiet about who will lead the Panthers.

Moore has to be the odds on favorite to be under center on opening day, but he faces a number of challenges moving forward. Most of the problems he has are not related to his football skills. Moore is one of many Carolina Panthers starters that are to be free agents come the off season, and the Panthers clearly are not going to be able to sign them all. That group of free agents also includes all-world running back DeAngelo Williams, and the Panthers are sure to have him at the top of their list. Where does Moore fit in?

It appears that Matt Moore is going to be moving on regardless of his performance on the field. Of course, this could change with an incredible on the field performance, but it is not likely. He simply is not playing in the type of offense that allows a quarterback to put up big numbers. Sure, he has Steve Smith and some interesting rookie options at the receiver position, but the Panthers are really all about running the football. With Williams and Jonathan Stewart on the team, that is not going to change. The bottom line is, Moore is likely playing to make his trade value go up this year.

The Panthers need to recognize this, and get what they can from Moore. If they hope to make any type of trade and get something either from Moore or potentially Clausen if Moore is as good as he appears, they need to establish that Moore is their starter. They have been a bit dicey about coming out and saying so. That has to hurt Moore's confidence.

Hand Moore the football, tell him that he is the man, and then let the chips fall where they may. If the Panthers do this and Moore flops, it is easy enough to then bring in Clausen to see what he has got. There is no advantage to the Panthers to do otherwise. Moore needs to be named the starter and either win or lose the position with his on field play. By making it up in the air, the Panthers are essentially telling the rest of the NFL that Moore is not as good as they thought. That could hurt his trade value going into a tough off season next year.

Rodney Southern has been writing on the Carolina Panthers and NFL action since they first came into the league. He runs popular blogs on several players and the Carolina Panthers in general, as well as making NFL predictions weekly. If you are looking for content to be written, or just simply want to enjoy reading the hottest Panther and NFL news, then you should check out his work today.

All Carolina Panthers fans need to head on over today for the hottest Panther action and most entertaining Panthers blogs on the Internet! Come visit Carolina Panther Fanz today! Carolina Panthers rule in 2010!

After winning the NFC South divisions of the NFL in 2008-09, the Carolina Panthers finished with an 8-8 on NFL Picks in 2010-11, 3rd in the division. The Panther had high expectation coming into last season but quarterback Jake Delhomme had a less than spectacular season and that got him a one way ticket out of Charlotte. Last year the Panthers offense struggled, especially in the passing game, averaging only 174.9 and that was 27th in the National football League, The running game was very good, the tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart was 3rd in the entire NFL averaging a little over 156 yards per game, Stewart led the team with 1,133 yards. Carolina scored 19 points per game which was not exactly spectacular. The Carolina Panther defense gave up 315.8 yards per game, 8th in the league, the pass defense was the units strong point as opposing quarterbacks threw for 191 yards per game and that was 4th in the entire NFL, the run defense led by linebacker Jon Beason gave up a 124.8 yards per game. As far as the team was for sports bettors, they were 9-7 against the spread, going over the betting odds total 6 times and under 10 times.

Panthers coach John Fox and the Panthers will be faced with Delhomme, the quarterback who led the team to their first and only superbowl appearance. Incumbent Matt Moore played at the end of the season and performed admirably but this sports handicapper doesn't think he is the answer and apparently neither does the Panthers management, the team drafted high profile quarterbacks Jimmy Clausen from Notre Dame in the 3rd round and University of Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike in the 6th round. Carolina is strong up front on the offensive line and the team may have the best tandem of running backs in all of football with Williams and Stewart, the tandem will be even better this season and we really believe Jonathan Stewart will have a breakout season, becoming one of the best backs in the NFL. Wide receiver Steve Smith will have another great season, there is no problem with his confidence and he will back it up every time.

Carolina also parted ways with longtime defensive end Julius Peppers, who has a much talent as anyone at the position has ever had, I mean anyone and Peppers is not that old, this will hurt Carolina. Middle linebacker Jon Beason is becoming one of the best in the National Football League, he's just a tad behind Ray Lewis when it comes to intensity and hitting, this guy can flat out play. cornerback Chris Gamble is the stud in the defensive backfield but the guy on the other side isn't bad either, Richard Marshall could easily have a pro bowl season. The Panthers lack of experience at the quarterback position will be the only thing holding them out of the 2010-11 playoffs.

Greg C Nelson

This weekend the Carolina Panthers defeated the Arizona Cardinals in an amazing show of run offense by the Panthers. Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart came together as an unstoppable run offense combo. Deangelo Williams broke away for big runs all day and Jonathan Stewart pounded into the in zone. It's becoming apparent that every NFL team is going to have to start having two NFL starter quality running back's to be effective in the NFL anymore.

Steve Smith was active in the game, he caught a touchdown pass. His explosiveness kept the Cardinals on their heels all day. The past few weeks Steve Smith was saying that he didn't feel like an asset to the Carolina Panthers anymore. He is one of the biggest reasons that the Carolina Panthers have such an effective run game. He is so fast and so great at the wide receiver position that it takes a safety and a corner back to cover him and in some situations it takes a outside linebacker.

If the Panthers can get their confidence back up the Panthers will have a good season and maybe even make a run at a wild-card spot in the playoffs. What everyone wants to know is, who is going to be the quarterback for the Carolina Panthers next year? I don't believe anybody believes it will be Jake. Jake Delhomme is too inconsistent and throws too many interceptions. During the off-season if John Fox has the opportunity to sign a better quarterback he should take it. If you look at the past two years the Carolina Panthers had the opportunity to sign Brett Favre, Michael Vick and how many other rookie all-star quarterback's? Yet the Panthers are still sticking with Jake Delhomme.

What was going on with John Kasay the Kicker for the Panthers this weekend? He missed two 40 something yard field goals. John Kasay usually is effective even past the 50 yard line. Maybe it was just an off week for the field goal kicker. John Kasay is the last original Carolina Panther and he is one of the best kickers in the NFL.

The Panthers have ALMOST all of the tools they need to be a dominate team in the National Football League. With so many tools on offensive and defense it is time to evaluate the quarterback position for the Carolina Panthers.

It's time for the Panthers to fill in the missing piece.

BLitzRumors.com is a NFL News and Rumors Website using the multiple NFL News and NFL rumors sources to display the latest and hard to find NFL News and Rumors. Visit us at http://www.blitzrumors.com.