Jake Delhomme
Jake Delhomme is probably the most unexpected player you will find in this countdown. He did not have a long career as a starter, and is not remembered by many outside of Carolina, but he did enough in his first three seasons as a starter to warrant inclusion on this list.
Delhomme went undrafted in the 1997 NFL Draft, signing on with his local New Orleans Saints, where he spent 6 years as a 3rd-string quarterback, playing in only 6 games over 6 years and starting only twice. In 2003, he finally realized that New Orleans was not going to give him a shot to start, and he signed on with Carolina, who wanted him to be a backup for their shaky starter, Rodney Peete.
When he signed on, the Panthers had not made the playoffs in six straight seasons, and things didn't look very good in the first game of the season, with the team going to halftime down 17-0 to Jacksonville. At that point, Delhomme was inserted at quarterback, and he led them to a 24-23 come-from-behind victory, which would become the story of their season. He was named the starter in week 2, and led them to an 11-5 overall record, leading 8 game-winning drives over the course of the season, which is still an NFL record.
His great play did not stop at the end of the regular season. Carolina easily won their Wild Card game against Dallas, then shocked the Saint Louis Rams in double overtime as Jake led yet another game-winning drive. The following week they went to Philadelphia to face the #1 seed, and behind another mistake-free game from Delhomme, the Panthers advanced to their first-ever Super Bowl.
Delhomme had his best game of the playoffs in Super Bowl XXXVIII, putting up 323 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions, outplaying Tom Brady by a small margin, but after tying the game up with a touchdown pass with 1:08 remaining, Brady led the Patriots down the field to kick the winning field goal as time expired. Despite losing the Super Bowl, Delhomme was the best overall quarterback that postseason, finishing with 987 yards, 6 touchdowns, and only 1 interception.
Delhomme came back even better the following season, posting career highs with 3886 yards and 29 touchdowns while throwing only 15 picks, but Carolina missed the playoffs after losing their top 2 rushers and best receiver for the majority of the season. When the team finally got healthy again in 2005, Delhomme led them back to the playoffs, where they again made a Cinderella run, winning two road games before falling to Seattle in the NFC championship game.
He was plagued by injuries and interceptions for the next several seasons, which led to his release by Carolina in 2010, but there is no denying that he led the Panthers to the two best seasons in team history and was a major reason for the franchise's big turnaround. While he was never a huge star and flamed out pretty quickly, two deep playoff runs and three very good seasons were just enough to earn him recognition as one of the best to play the position.
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