Even the Losers...Get Lucky Sometimes

The Charlotte Observer is reporting this morning that David Carr, most recently made famous for rocking out white gloves during the third and fourth quarters last week, will most likely start at quarterback for the Carolina Panthers this weekend against Tampa Bay. Carr's time in Houston was auspicious to say the least, but he looked good last week against the Falcons in his three of four for 56 yards performance. Which is like saying that Chuck Liddell soundly beat my grandmother in the UFC ring. Still, Carr is being handed the keys to a reasonably potent offense--DeShaun Foster has started to get his zone-blocking-run on and Steve Smith is virtually incomparable in terms of studly wide receivers.

But the big question still remains--does David Carr make a viable fantasy start this week and going forward? It's a tough call, but I say yes. As a Panthers fan I may have even made the call that Carr would be playing by week three--although my prediction was based more on Jake Delhomme failing to perform than getting injured. Such is karma. But Carr has legitimate talent; he was, after all, taken with the first pick the Texans ever made in an NFL draft, and he was a flat out baller at Fresno.

Would I start him this week on my fantasy teams? Only if I was totally backed into a corner by my quarterback situation, as I expect the Panthers to try and establish a ground game against the Bucs. But Carr is a very nice add for most fantasy teams as a backup or bye week quarterback--he gets the keys to this Panther offense and if Delhomme is out for more than just this week, Carr will get to lob passes to Smith against the Saints and Cardinals leading up to the P-Cats' bye week. Don't go dropping anyone essential to your team, but this is the definition of working the wire for fantasy owners if Carr pans out at all.