Why did David Carr sign as a backup to Jake Delhomme of the Carolina Panthers?

Question

Dont get me wrong, i'm a diehard New York Football Giants fan.
GIANTS FOREVER, kids.
But I think Carr got a bad rap as QB, because of his crappy Texan offensive line. The guy got sacked 7 times a game, and was rushed out of the pocket all the time.

Was his signing with Carolina as a backup a waste of talent?

Answer 1

Yes. He could have competed with Culpepper for the starting job in Miami.........

Answer 2

1. This was a good signing for both the Panthers and Carr.
2. Jake has declined in ability drastically each of the past two years. Turnovers are increasing with him and God we needed to have Carr this past season.
3. Jake is not injury prone as one writer says. He is just not the QB to take the Panthers to and win the Super Bowl.
4. Carr will be ready to step in behind a much better Offensive Line than he ever had in Texas.
5. The other places he might have gotten a chance to start would have been just like Texas getting slammed to the ground due to weak o lines such as in Oakland.
6. When Jake falters and he will Carr will by then have learned the system in Carolina and be ready to start.

Answer 3

I am definitely not a fan of David Carr, though I do think he has high potential.

If you watched a Texans game you would see that Carr holds onto the ball way too long for his own good. I will say that the Texans OL has been underacheiving but last year, they were surprisingly decent. Carr had a high completion percentage because he would checkdown every WR and just throw a small 5-10 yard pass that would lead to nothing. Carr was part of the problem in Houston this season as he didn't use his mobility and didn't let go of the ball quick enough.

Answer 4

I'm wondering the same thing...as a Panther fan, I've seen enough of Delhomme to know that we don't need him. He's replaceable in time, it's his chemistry with Smith that leads me to believe that is why he's still the starter. I was looking at the two QB's side-by-side...Delhomme CLEARLY had better protection yet Carr's pass completely percentage is higher still, his efficiency with TD-INT ratio isn't though, but that can be attributed to the Texan's offense as a whole...I think Carolina signed him as an insurance policy to begin with...but the two year deal confuses me. Is it two years so we have one year to put Delhomme on the clock and one to test Carr in the offense for 2008 or what?

I hope Carr wins the job in preseason....oh well...Go Panthers!

Answer 5

Back up? I don't think he will be the back up.One reason is b/c Carolina knows Carr has the potential to be good.Let's just forget about the Texans history with Carr b/c that was the offensive line's fault by not protecting their QB.I expect to see a QB battle to determine the starter which Carr has a good shot of winning.The Panthers have a great offense that Carr actually has that threat of being a GREAT QB.

Answer 6

I dont think this was a waste of talent, Carr really didnt have any options to become a starter anywhere, this is similar to Joey Harrington last season, hes going somewhere with a mediocre starting QB with a history of injury problems in order to try to get a shot at the starting job at some point in the season in order to prove that he can be a legit starting quaterback for another team after this season is over.

Answer 7

Its a good signing by the Panthers. Delhomme is getting older and is prone to injury. Carr is a good qb, but didnt have the right talent around him to make him a standout qb. A decent running game and one of the best wr's in the business should help him out.

Answer 8

No, not a waste at all. He's young, realizes he's got a lot of talent but hasn't had good coaching or help around him and has nowhere to go but up and he has a good mentor in Carolina and a club that has the patience to work with him (ex. Chris Weike!). He knows he'll have a chance here to be the man for a long time within the next few years than to go to another team that's horrible and disappear there. Here he can play for a contender and eventually be the leader most thought he would be.

Answer 9

No...Carr has at least starting experience...And, I like Weinke, but before Delhomme was picked up, Weinke went 1-15, and that was ultimately the season that George Seifert got fired in favor of John Fox...Carolina has said to the media that they made it clear to Carr that Delhomme is the starter...Doesn't mean they wouldn't switch if Delhomme sucks...

Answer 10

Because he's going to prove in the preseason games that he should be starting even though the Panther staff wont start him. Until Delhomme get hurt and they put Carr in. Then we'll see a repeat of the Brady/Bledsoe episode.

Answer 11

Jake Delhomme didn't scare anybody last season and perhaps David Carr figures he might be starting at some point this season.