When looking at the Carolina Panthers’ quarterback situation entering the 2010 season, the similarities with that of the 2007 Cleveland Browns is uncanny. 

The Carolina job is Matt Moore’s to lose after three seasons as mostly a backup. Moore started five games last season and showed promise, especially with the Panthers winning four of the last five games. In his NFL career, the Oregon State University star has thrown for 1,783 yards and 11 touchdowns. So how does Moore’s situation compare to anyone from Cleveland?

In 2007, another Oregon State quarterback was coming off his third season in the NFL where he showed some promise towards the end of the previous season – that was Derek Anderson, who started the final three games for the injured Charlie Frye and threw for 793 yards and five touchdowns on the season. Frye would be traded after Week 1 of the 2007 season and Anderson took over the offense – so just like Moore, a third year, Oregon State quarterback, who got his first, consistent real game time in his third season.

Well, so what? Is that a big enough coincidence to write about? Probably not, but there is more.

As Anderson took over the offense in 2007, the Browns were coming off a draft where they landed, “The Golden Boy”, out of Notre Dame – Brady Quinn. Quinn, drafted in the first round, was said to be NFL ready because of the system he ran in college under Charlie Weis. Even though Anderson showed that he could play, Quinn was always the guy that fans in Cleveland wanted, and in reality, the organization wanted, to be the quarterback of the future.

Sound familiar? It should, since the Panthers just drafted “NFL ready” quarterback, Jimmy Clausen from Notre Dame. The Panthers want Clausen to be the guy. If they did not have faith in the kid, they would not have spent a second-round draft pick with plenty of other holes to fill.

Take this information and lets top it all off with one more piece – Rip Scherer, the Panthers’ quarterbacks coach, held the same position with Cleveland in 2007 and throughout most of Anderson and Quinn’s “development.”

Now I am not saying that Scherer is the cause of the quarterback meltdown that happened in Cleveland, it was the entire organization, but it is something to point out. Anderson had a Pro-Bowl season in 2007, throwing for 3,787 yards and 29 touchdowns – but with Quinn always lingering in the background and every mistake of Anderson’s being put under a microscope, he was set up to fail in Cleveland, and he did just that.

Quinn never got a fair shot, as well. With the Browns wanting to treat Anderson “fair” and reward him for his 2007 season, the Browns never had a chance to get Quinn the reps he needed to grow. Even in 2009 when Quinn was named the Week 1 starter, he was yanked after two and a half games. From 2008-09, Anderson started 16 games, while Quinn started 12 games. Without either of the two young quarterbacks ever being labeled, “the guy”, both failed at running the offense. Now, Anderson is competing for a job with the Arizona Cardinals, while Quinn is probably the third most-liked quarterback for the Denver Broncos, behind Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow.

I know that Matt Moore is not the same player as Derek Anderson, I know that Jimmy Clausen is not Brady Quinn and I know that the Panthers’ organization is not the Browns’ organization – but quarterback competition is a dangerous game no matter who the options are and what team they are with.

For Carolina, it can be dangerous to not give Clausen the reps he needs to develop as the franchise quarterback, or it can be dangerous not giving Moore the chance he deserves after putting together some wins last season. After all, shouldn’t players be rewarded with a steady job in the NFL after putting together wins, instead of being rewarded with a new guy trying to steal his job?

When looking at the most successful teams in the NFL, teams like the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, one thing is consistent – a defined starting quarterback with no competition and nobody breathing over the other guy’s shoulder, watching every miscue.

I’m sure the Panthers are trying to find that guy and consider having two quality quarterbacks a good problem to have, but they must take heed and come to a decision as soon as possible as to who holds the future of the offense. It can be fine spending a season deciding, and seeing how the situation pans out, but not three seasons. By then, you risk ruining the morale of both players and end right back at the drawing board.

Ironically, after a horrid 2009 performance, Jake Delhomme is now the starting quarterback for the Browns!