A Vote of No Confidence: Yates & Delhomme

Lawrence Jordan: Here, in the court of North Carolina public opinion, I offer a vote of "No Confidence" in my teams' Quarterback positions. Notice the pluralization, co-defendents UNC Tar Heels and Carolina Panthers.

Vote of No Confience: "a voting process in which people show that they do not support a person or group in power." LINK

There comes a time in every season's life, where the team must question its direction, values, successes, and failures, and determine a responsible course of action to ensure the team maximizes its success rate. The Tar Heels and Panthers are near mid-season, past their bye weeks, and readying their respective camps for the 2009 season's homestretch.

At this point in the season it's fair to state that both teams are quarterbacked by players that are detrimental to their own success rates, and the time has come for a change. How prepared are the Tar Heels and Panthers to competently replace their Quarterback? That is another story that begs attention at a latter date.

The parallelsbetween Yates and Delhomme are startling:

• Each Quarterback received an endorsement from their organization in the preseason. Yates with an appointment to a starting role when returning from injury in 2008 and again when he won the starting role prior to the start of the 2009 season. Delhomme with his inexplicable contract extension through 2014 after his steady decline in performance after his injury and then capped with an horrific season ending playoff performance against Arizona.
• Each Quarterback built their reputations on the backs of talented wide receivers causing inflated view of their actual abilities. Yates throwing to Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate, and Brooks Foster. Delhomme throwing to Steve Smith.
• Each Quarter back is fairly accurate (around 59% completion percentage) thanks to conservative play calling, but cannot be relied upon for neither their efficiency (INT>TD) nor their protection of the football (fumble-prone).
• Each Quarerback has a two-headed running back system installed as part of their team's offense, but negates the backs effectiveness because the team must pass to manage the clock and an early deficit.
  
• Each Quarterback has handcuffed their defensive teams with short fields and lop-sided times of possession.
• Each Quarterbacks' coach has had to defend their starting appointments publically, and drawn concerned comments from the locker rooms.
  

The starting job for any athlete should be awarded to the player that gives his team the best chance to win. The team must trust its offensive leader to maintain any expectations of success. Yates' and Delhomme's performances have rightly caused their teammates to doubt the abilities to play the quarterback position, and therefore, their teams doubt their own abilities to win. Hence, the offering of the vote of no confidence...