The Carolina Panthers' quarterbacks are far more rare and unique than you might imagine.
All of their quarterbacks are undrafted.
Starter Jake Delhomme was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent before the 1998 season. He stayed with New Orleans until March 2003, when he signed a contract with the Panthers.
Delhomme is the greatest quarterback in the Panthers' short 12-year history. He is the team's career leader in attempts, completions, yards, and touchdowns. He also ranks second all-time in completion percentage and QB rating.
But most of all, he is the second-longest tenured quarterback all-time and is currently the longest-tenured quarterback on the team. This season will tie him with Chris Weinke (2001-2006) for the most seasons as a quarterback playing for the Panthers.
The fact that Delhomme wasn't even drafted, and yet he's our best quarterback in team history is just downright amazing.
Backup Matt Moore was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in May 2007. When they released him on Sept. 1, 2007, the Panthers picked him up off waivers the next day.
While Moore hasn't had the chance to put up big numbers yet, he was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month in December 2007 for completing 49-of-79 passes for 564 yards and three touchdowns. He only threw two interceptions during that time. Those numbers came to an 86.1 quarterback rating in three starts.
Two opponents he beat in that month were future NFC West champion Seattle Seahawks and future NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Even more spectacularly, Moore was the first Panthers rookie quarterback to start since Randy Fasani did it in 2002. He also was the first Panthers rookie quarterback to win his first start since Chris Weinke beat the Minnesota Vikings in September 2001. Moore beat the Seattle Seahawks 13-10 on December 16, 2007.
Needless to say, great things are in Moore's future.
No one has seen much of third-string backup Brett Basanez. He's only played in one game in his two-year career. He was out all last season with a wrist injury.
In his only game—against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006—he completed 6-of-11 passes for 56 yards and an interception.
But the Panthers are holding onto him because they think he can be something one day.
The Carolina Panthers have a stellar group of quarterbacks, but none of them came from the NFL Draft. These quarterbacks are the definition of the term "sleeper."
1 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Rick Weaver 11 months ago
Nice breakdown....Matt looks like he may be the real deal, like Jake turned out to be.....
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