More big fantasy news following the goings-on out in Houston. As reported earlier, the Texans traded for QB Matt Schaub, then unceremoniously cut QB David Carr. Now Carr has found a home in Carolina "backing up" starter Jake Delhomme.
I put "backing up" in quotes because what I actually mean is "trying to wrench away the starting position from". Don't brush this move off, this is extremely bad news for Jake Delhomme. Since his breakout 2004 season he has regressed each of the past two seasons. Yes, his all-world wide receiver Steve Smith was injured for most of last season but Keyshawn Johnson is no slouch either. In fact, you could argue that Delhomme's #2 WR is better than anybody Carr had back in Houston. Anybody he's EVER had in Houston.
Let's take a look at both of their career stats so far:
| Player | Games | Comp % | Yds | TD | Int | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carr | 76 | 60.0 | 13,391 | 59 | 65 | 75.5 |
| Delhomme | 67 | 59.5 | 13,935 | 92 | 63 | 84.0 |
Do you see anything there that shows Delhomme is a much better QB than Carr? I don't. Yes, Delhomme's TD totals are considerably higher in fewer games but having Smith, Keyshawn and a solid running game will help you with that. What surprised me was that Delhomme has only two fewer interceptions in nine fewer games. And the fact that Carr has a higher career completion rate. Considering that Carr is usually chucking the ball away as he runs for his life, that's quite impressive.
So what's the fantasy take on this? Delhomme is in trouble with a capital T. While I'm sure the Panthers will say all the right things about Jake being the starter, there is every opportunity for Carr to win the starting job coming out of camp. And if he doesn't, there's every opportunity for Delhomme to be benched if he hits a cold streak -- last season for example he threw 10 INTs in a seven game stretch. And even if that doesn't happen, Delhomme could get hurt again (he missed three games in 2006).
Bottom line: Move Delhomme down your draft lists. Down, I say! I told you earlier that I wouldn't be surprised if Carr started a game this season. Now it's likely he'll start a game this season. Keep a close eye on these two in camp. With Steve Smith healthy and Foster and Williams moving the ball, the QB in Carolina has a lot of value. Now we need to figure out who it will be.