Clausen Finally Gets Drafted

By Justin Worsley

Much like fellow Notre Dame alumnus Brady Quinn, the highly touted quarterback Jimmy Clausen faced his biggest nightmare in the NFL Draft, a free-fall.

Clausen, who like Quinn, was considered a top-10 player and the second-best quarterback by many scouts. After Denver selected Florida's Tim Tebow with the 25th, overall pick, it was evident that Clausen would still be undrafted at the end of round one.

There was hope, however, that Clausen would be taken early in the second round. Many teams who were selecting early in the second round are in dire need for a quarterback of Clausen's caliber. Clausen continued to drop, however, as Kansas City, Cleveland, Buffalo, Oakland and Arizona passed on the gunslinger until the Carolina Panthers selected Clausen with the 48th overall pick.

Carolina, who did not have a first-round pick, released the franchise's all-time leading passer Jake Delhomme earlier in the month and are currently relying on Matt Moore to lead the team this season. Moore was impressive in little playing time last season, going 4-1 as a starter while throwing for 1,053 yards and 8 touchdowns to only 2 interceptions.

While Clausen is expected to immediately compete for the starting quarterback position, that didn't stop the Panthers from selecting another quarterback in the third round. Appalachain State's Armanti Edwards, the record-setting quarterback in the FCS-division of college football, was selected with the 89th pick of the draft.

The move came as a surprise to many Panthers fans, who saw a glaring need at several other positions. Carolina also traded away next season's second-round draft pick to New England in order to acquire Edwards. Edwards, who also ran for over 4,000 rushing yards in his collegiate career, could be used as the quarterback for the teams wilcat formations.

The Panthers also provided a new target for next season, wide receiver Brandon LaFell, with the 78th pick in the draft.