Does Cam take a step this year?

[lightsout]

Nobody complained about his touch in 2011 when he was dropping dimes because he had good options to throw to and a strong running game.

His lack of accuracy has been due, I think, to two major issues:

Revolving door at receiver. Sure, some QBs can work with whatever body you put out there. Brady comes to mind. However, I think Cam legitimately needs to have that chemistry and trust with guys. He has to know them inside and out to be able to place the ball where they need/want it. That's a bigger thing than people think. Throwing a football seems simple, but when you have different sizes and speeds, the amount of velocity and trajectory of the ball changes from player to player. Cam is just now getting where he has a consistent lineup. Why do you think about every throw to Olsen is on the money? It's not because Olsen is having to lay out for every pass.

OL making him screw his mechanics up. Most sensible people on here recognize that when the OL gives him a great pocket and he trusts it, he's money. The few times he had a clean pocket and threw off his backfoot or rushed a throw, I blame that on instinct from having to do it 90% of the time with the "pass protection" he's had.

He seems to be trusting this OL to protect him. He looks way more confident standing there, and even has improved his movement within the pocket it seems (a skill that is either getting better or getting worse with every QB every year, so that's a positive). I think Cam will look better, but not because he is necessarily doing anything different than he has. He's grown with experience and he has the best set of tools to work with that he's ever had (minus not having KB).

[Udogg]

Take a step?  Nope.  Play more consistently?  Yes. You could see it in preseason, without Bell, Silatolu , and Chandler a.k.a The Poo Poo Platter, he was much more accurate than any previous preseason. As he gets even more comfortable I expect more improvement.  I watched the 2011-2014 season and what has been missing has been the protection.  There were some games where he just started off horrible as far as accuracy.  But as a whole it was usually, Silatolu/Chandler/Velasco/etc... whatever horrible guard was playing starts letting people either get into Cam or start falling at his feet. That why Cam usually followed the same pattern.  Beginning of the year stars well.  Mid season he is really irratic.  Silatolu and whatever other bad guard is removed, Cam finishes the year strong.  Couple that with our inability to run on 1st down early in the season (which may also be related to the horrible line play).  It happens at the beginning of every year.  Our first 4 games we are horrible at running the ball on 1st down for the last 4 years. Shula/Chud didn't matter. 

As far as the WR position, say what you want about our WR's at least they get open(hopefully they can catch).  Couple that with the fact that our over all speed at WR as compared to beginning of last year is improved by a huge amount.  When we added speed to the defense it was a huge improvement, same when Philly started playing more minutes, the offense opened up as well.  I think with the Oline improvement and the speed at the WR position Cam is going to have his best year yet.

TLDR:

Oline better, WR's faster, Cam will be better.

[CarolinaNCSU]

KB going down could actually help him in an MVP race. If he plays extremely efficiently and the team is winning, he'll be in the discussion considering the WRs he has.

No doubt.  KB would've helped his numbers though, what MVP races always end up being about. 

Part of KB's stats will be replaced of course...but from the reports and following last season, a nice 1,200 yard, 10-12 TD year probably wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.  Would've gone a long way in bumping Cam's numbers, or to just be there to help cover Cam's mistakes in games or bail him out. 

[t96]

No doubt.  KB would've helped his numbers though, what MVP races always end up being about. 

Part of KB's stats will be replaced of course...but from the reports and following last season, a nice 1,200 yard, 10-12 TD year probably wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.  Would've gone a long way in bumping Cam's numbers, or to just be there to help cover Cam's mistakes in games or bail him out. 

Based on offseason reports, I don't think 1500 and 15 would be that far out of a prediction.

[Jangler]

 

[AceBoogie]

I'm not asking him to take a leap, just a small step.  Like better touch on his passes.  One step at a time.  

There isn't a single quarterback in this league that doesn't have things they could improve on. Cam simply needs better talent around him. You want to see Cam elevate his game? Get him a legit OC and some consistency from the players around him. 

[TheNewStandard]

I've noticed that his passes to Olsen have more "touch," than his bullets to his other receivers. Don't know why that is, but it's just something I've noticed. 

Another observation is that he tends to throw passes, meant for long gains or farther downfield, are thrown with his weight heavily on his back foot to get a higher trajectory?

[lightsout]

I've noticed that his passes to Olsen have more "touch," than his bullets to his other receivers. Don't know why that is, but it's just something I've noticed. 

Another observation is that he tends to throw passes, meant for long gains or farther downfield, are thrown with his weight heavily on his back foot to get a higher trajectory?

Simply because, for his first 4 season, Olsen is the ONLY consistent target Cam has had. Ginn is the next closest as far as Cam knowing, but Ginn has been limited. However, if you notice, when Cam throws to Ginn, things often happen.

Cam knows Olsen. Cam trusts Olsen. It's automatic for those two to hookup on any and every route that Olsen may run. If he's open, Cam can get the ball to him.

People really overlooked the reason WHY Cam took his receivers off on a little bonding session this summer. He's trying to build that chemistry with everybody. Sure, he may have put reps in with guys who are no longer on the team, but he didn't know who he'd have to throw to on week 1, so he got time in with all of them. It jump starts that chemistry building that would take place for the first month of the season in practice to where they can focus on just running the plays and getting the timing of the play, as an offensive unit, down.

Hopefully, Ginn, Brown, and Funch are all on the same page as Cam right now. Little worried about Funch, since he has been so limited since OTAs, but I think that's why he's not starting (apart from the hammy). They are going to work him in on some packages, but until he and Cam are clicking the way Cam does with Philly and Ginn and Olsen, they're not going to do it.

Another thing, KB has that chemistry build up. This MAY cause problems, because he's not there. Expect some frustration from Cam if Ginn and Brown are dropping balls left and right.

[CRA]

Not a leap to Top 5.  But a step.  Do you guys think he takes strides in his passing game this season?  Puts more touch on his throws?  Has better feet when throwing?  Not as many high throws?  Or do you guys think he is what he is with his "phenomenal" coaches he has around him (Shula, and Dorsey)?  

No.  You need adequate talent for that to show overall on a season. 

[Guest]

Nobody complained about his touch in 2011 when he was dropping dimes because he had good options to throw to and a strong running game.

His lack of accuracy has been due, I think, to two major issues:

Revolving door at receiver. Sure, some QBs can work with whatever body you put out there. Brady comes to mind. However, I think Cam legitimately needs to have that chemistry and trust with guys. He has to know them inside and out to be able to place the ball where they need/want it. That's a bigger thing than people think. Throwing a football seems simple, but when you have different sizes and speeds, the amount of velocity and trajectory of the ball changes from player to player. Cam is just now getting where he has a consistent lineup. Why do you think about every throw to Olsen is on the money? It's not because Olsen is having to lay out for every pass.

OL making him screw his mechanics up. Most sensible people on here recognize that when the OL gives him a great pocket and he trusts it, he's money. The few times he had a clean pocket and threw off his backfoot or rushed a throw, I blame that on instinct from having to do it 90% of the time with the "pass protection" he's had.

He seems to be trusting this OL to protect him. He looks way more confident standing there, and even has improved his movement within the pocket it seems (a skill that is either getting better or getting worse with every QB every year, so that's a positive). I think Cam will look better, but not because he is necessarily doing anything different than he has. He's grown with experience and he has the best set of tools to work with that he's ever had (minus not having KB).

The O-Line has been an issue because other than his rookie season he has ranked in the top ten in most sacked QBs, though in his rookie year he only missed it by one place. But the problem with blaming the protection is that other QBs manage to have better pass completion when taking more sacks, so why does Cam continued to have issues?   

Notable examples:

- Matt Ryan was sacked 44 times in 2013, he completed 67 pct.

- Aaron Rodgers was sacked 51 times in 2012, he completed 67 pct.

- Philip Rivers was sacked 49 times in 2012, he completed 64 pct. 

- Tony Romo was sacked 36 times in 2011 and 2012, he completed 66 and 65 pct.

If we look at last season:

- Jay Cutler was sacked the same amount of times, he completed 66 pct.

- Teddy Bridgewater was sacked one more time, he completed 64 pct.

- Alex Smith was sacked seven more times, he completed 65 pct.

At the end of the day other quarterbacks have hit the ground as much, if not more times than Cam, and experienced as much, if not more pressure at times than Cam, and they have managed to be more accurate than Cam. So I do find it difficult to blame the O-Line behind Cam's lack of accuracy. The revolving door policy at receiver does have some merit, but through 2011-13 his top three targets were the same [Steve Smith, Brandon LaFell and Greg Olsen] and he still had some issues with accuracy. So I don't think we can put the blame entirely on the O-Line and receiving core, they haven't been great, but others have played with worse. For me, the main reason behind his lack of accuracy is that he is still developing as a quarterback. He only had one year of starting experience in college, so he's had to learn on the job in NFL. So it is bound to take time to make the adjustments, and having average protection and receiving options has certainly not helped him, and likewise, not having a great OC has not helped either. 

That said, I will say the same as I have for the last three seasons - I hope Cam kicks on and have a big year this year statistically. But as long as we win our division and make the play offs, having Cam produce to a similar level to the past few seasons is not a problem. It is like Cam said the other day, judge him by wins not statistics. And I think that is the type of quarterback we have. Someone that will hopefully win a lot, but not be the next Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers in terms of production. 

 

[TheRed]

The O-Line has been an issue because other than his rookie season he has ranked in the top ten in most sacked QBs, though in his rookie year he only missed it by one place. But the problem with blaming the protection is that other QBs manage to have better pass completion when taking more sacks, so why does Cam continued to have issues?   

Notable examples:

- Matt Ryan was sacked 44 times in 2013, he completed 67 pct.

- Aaron Rodgers was sacked 51 times in 2012, he completed 67 pct.

- Philip Rivers was sacked 49 times in 2012, he completed 64 pct. 

- Tony Romo was sacked 36 times in 2011 and 2012, he completed 66 and 65 pct.

If we look at last season:

- Jay Cutler was sacked the same amount of times, he completed 66 pct.

- Teddy Bridgewater was sacked one more time, he completed 64 pct.

- Alex Smith was sacked seven more times, he completed 65 pct.

At the end of the day other quarterbacks have hit the ground as much, if not more times than Cam, and experienced as much, if not more pressure at times than Cam, and they have managed to be more accurate than Cam. So I do find it difficult to blame the O-Line behind Cam's lack of accuracy. The revolving door policy at receiver does have some merit, but through 2011-13 his top three targets were the same [Steve Smith, Brandon LaFell and Greg Olsen] and he still had some issues with accuracy. So I don't think we can put the blame entirely on the O-Line and receiving core, they haven't been great, but others have played with worse. For me, the main reason behind his lack of accuracy is that he is still developing as a quarterback. He only had one year of starting experience in college, so he's had to learn on the job in NFL. So it is bound to take time to make the adjustments, and having average protection and receiving options has certainly not helped him, and likewise, not having a great OC has not helped either. 

That said, I will say the same as I have for the last three seasons - I hope Cam kicks on and have a big year this year statistically. But as long as we win our division and make the play offs, having Cam produce to a similar level to the past few seasons is not a problem. It is like Cam said the other day, judge him by wins not statistics. And I think that is the type of quarterback we have. Someone that will hopefully win a lot, but not be the next Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers in terms of production. 

 

Were any of those QB's also 50% or more of their offenses run game?

That makes a significant difference. When a QB is constantly gassed from running the football, it will eventually have an impact on his accuracy.

We have seen the damage that Newton can do with an adequate OL, and a decent showing from his RB's.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

rodgers, cutler, and alex smith all played in west coast systems that are notorious for inflating comp % and tend to do reasonably well with "plug and play" type personnel.  that's not to diminish their individual mettle as quarterbacks (certainly not aaron rodgers) but it's something that has to be taken into account when comparing them to someone like cam who runs shula's coryell with zone read wrinkles.  one of the main things that makes that offense work is a serious deep threat and we presently don't have one of those for a litany of reasons. 

bridgewater also has one of the top OCs in the game in norv turner calling plays for him.

[the butch]

I have a feeling he is going to wow some us this year given his conditions.  The national media may look at stats and see that he's not improving.  But given that he's throwing to a journeyman kick returner and a second year UDFA, I think we will be pleasantly surprised by his performance.

[Peppers90 NC]

Coming in healthy and confident is already a big step from last year.