A recent article in the New York Times lamented the quality of the quarterbacks who have called signals during the years for the Chicago Bears.

Hall of Famer Sid Luckman came out of Columbia University in 1939, but since then, the level of talent at the position has been just mediocre or dismal, and that includes Jim McMahon who led the Bears to Super Bowl XX in 1986.

Before this year, before the arrival of current Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler, Luckman still owned several club records, (one of which is seven touchdown passes in one game) despite the fact football was a starkly different game, including 12-game schedules.

A photo accompanying the story has Luckman preparing to hurl a pass with an object that could be mistaken for a basketball.

The Bears aren’t the only NFL franchise weighed down by quarterbacks closer to abysmal than brilliant. At least Luckman is in the Hall of Fame. The Carolina Panthers are far from having their first player inducted at Canton, let alone a quarterback.

Sure, Kerry Collins got Dom Capers’ team to the NFC championship game in year two, and Jake Delhomme guided the black, Panther blue and silver to Super Bowl XXXVIII, but quarterback often has been a position that has bedeviled Jerry Richardson’s team. While Collins quit on the team in his third season, Jeff Lewis was the signal caller who represented a cross, for Capers’ replacement, George Seifert to bear.

Lewis, who was obtained from the Broncos for third and fourth round draft picks, never started a game for the Panthers, but the time Seifert invested in him, believing he was a legitimate starter was mind-numbing and catastrophic.

Whatever you want to say about John Fox’s man, Jake Delhomme, he got the Panthers to the big stage. There’s no explaining the way he went out. The meltdown in the playoffs to the Cardinals in 2008, followed by a gigantic new contract, followed by the trade to Cleveland was nightmarish.

Delhomme is in the team record book for career passing yards (17,243) and touchdowns (112). Steve Beuerlein holds single-season marks for passing yards (4,436) and touchdowns (36) in 1999. Chris Weinke threw for a record 423-yards in a single game in 2006.

Here are the quarterbacks who have started for the Panthers during the years and how I rank them:

1. Beuerlein; 2. Delhomme; 3. Collins; 4. Rodney Peete; 5.Vinny Testaverde; 6. Weinke; 7. Frank Reich; 8. Matt Moore; 9. Matt Lytle; 10. Randy Fasani; 11. Brian St. Pierre; 12. (tie) David Carr and Jimmy Clausen.

The good news for Clausen is the arrival of new Panthers quarterback coach Mike Shula. We go back to the Bears in 1995, when former N.C. State star Erik Kramer tossed for 3,838 yards and 29 touchdowns, both still club records. Mike Shula was the man most responsible for helping Kramer forge those numbers.