I often joke that if you watch the television show Friday Night Lights, and ever wondered what would happen to J.D. McCoy, the quarterback character growing up in an obscenely wealthy household after his high school days were done…all you have to do is follow the career of Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen. I even penned an entire essay on the topic while the Notre Dame product was working out for the NFL Draft last spring.
Sunday began the first NFL chapter of the Clausen/McCoy story, and the first couple pages did not have a happy ending.
By Paul M. Banks
Back in December, many NFL mock draft artists including myself had Clausen as the first overall pick. His stock fell during the late winter and spring, and he ended up lasting the entire first round. Shockingly, he was not picked until the fourth round by the Carolina Panthers.
And things didn’t get any better during the first half of his first professional start.
Clausen completed one, yes ONE whole pass in the first half Sunday, posting a Rex Grossman/Ryan Leaf style 0.0 passer rating.
Clausen finished 16 of 33 for 188 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and one lost fumble. His numbers would have been better had it not been for all the passes his intended receivers dropped. And his protection wasn’t really very protective at all.
On his last incomplete pass, the final play of the game, Clausen took a massive hit straight to the rib cage that was exceedingly painful to watch. And he had no help from the running game as the Panthers offense sputtered again on the ground. Tailbacks Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams combined for just 77 yards. And Carolina lost 20-7 to a very mediocre Cincinnati Bengals team.
The sports fans of Charlotte may start focusing on basketball and NASCAR (I heard once that racing or something was big down there) soon as the Panthers have three whole touchdowns and amassed 12 turnovers in their first three losses. They look like perhaps the league’s 31st best team out of 32. (Buffalo is probably worse)
All I can really say for sure about Clausen’s rough start is the same exact quote Jason Bateman’s character said in the early ’90s college football movie Necessary Roughness, when he stuck up for his starting quarterback Paul Blake.
“Hey, it’s not his fault; the entire team sucks.”
Coarse, blunt, inarticulate- yet 100% true in both cases.
Written by Paul M. Banks, President and CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest focused webzine. He is also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, the Chicago Tribune’s blog network, Walter Football.com, the Washington Times Communities, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank