The narrative that Cam finally learned how to play QB this season

[Jangler]

5 seasons. Most good QBs figure it out in the 5th season or they're back ups. 

Russell Wilson Ben Roethisberger and Tom Brady are some of the luckiest QBs of all time and it has spoiled people who claim to watch and love football.

[IMissChrisWeinke]

And the training camps he has missed because the nfl was being dumb and injuries.... 

[Cookie Lyon]

8 hours ago, JJT said:

They can no longer dismiss him, so they had to come up with an excuse as to why they've changed their minds. 

Agreed.

They're too ashamed to admit they were completely wrong about him.

[Reynman]

no, no, no...

 

It was the "near fatal" car accident.  iirc, he has only lost 2 games since that happened.  

 

he learned to control what he can, and not do too much, until he needs to take control and do too much 

#backbreaksuperpowers

[Davidson Deac II]

9 hours ago, Jangler said:

5 seasons. Most good QBs figure it out in the 5th season or they're back ups. 

Russell Wilson Ben Roethisberger and Tom Brady are some of the luckiest QBs of all time and it has spoiled people who claim to watch and love football.

Wilson had the advantage of a superb defense in his first couple of years.  Cowher brought Roethsiberger along fairly slow, as the steelers relied primarily on the run game and defense in his first couple of years.  He had more passing attempts last year than he did in his first two seasons combined.   Brady was good from the beginning, but unlike Cam, he did play the full four years in college. 

 

Cam has improved dramatically since his first year.  But I thought he really started becoming a complete quarterback in 2013.  Before that, he had some flashy stats, but the offense as a whole tended to disappear in crunch time.  Starting in 2013, he became a guy who could take the team down the field and score with 2 minutes left in the game.  He did it several times that year.  Last year, he had some injury setbacks and the offense was unsettled by several departures, but eventually they got good again.  This year, he has showed himself to be a true superstar.  The media is noticing because we are winning. 

[tiger7_88]

When they say silly things like that, I just hear them saying this in my head "Cam Newton has made it so that the mistaken narrative I've been integral in spreading for years looks like foolishness, ergo I must attribute something to him that hasn't actually happened in order to assuage my tender pride."

[CarolinaJami']

Oh and can we give Gettleman some props for signing Cam BEFORE this season. His contract paid him a lot up front and is very cap friendly going forward. If he had a Flacco or Brees contract we would be in big trouble again.

[tiger7_88]

10 hours ago, truthjuice said:

I hate this narrative. He didn't finally learn to play QB, he grew and matured. Big damn difference. Cam broke records his rookie year. He's known how to play the position, he just had to grow up and mature. It also helps that an offense was built around him. Continuity and stability works as well. I really dislike this. 

The "maturity" narrative is overblown as well.

Yes, Cam is more "mature" now (at age 26) then he was 5 years ago (at age 21).

DUH.

But the way many want to frame it is that he was ESPECIALLY immature and has made AMAZING strides.

No.  He was just 21 and now he's 26.  There's no "amazing strides" to be found, he's just done what pretty much all young men in this day and age do between the ages of 21 and 26.  But the narrative pushers would like you to believe that he's grown from "Johnny Manziel" to "Phillip Rivers" in those years (with much credit to THEM for pointing it out, of course!).

That's a FALSE narrative.

[truthjuice]

1 minute ago, tiger7_88 said:

The "maturity" narrative is overblown as well.

Yes, Cam is more "mature" now (at age 26) then he was 5 years ago (at age 21).

DUH.

But the way many want to frame it is that he was ESPECIALLY immature and has made AMAZING strides.

No.  He was just 21 and now he's 26.  There's no "amazing strides" to be found, he's just done what pretty much all young men in this day and age do between the ages of 21 and 26.  But the narrative pushers would like you to believe that he's grown from "Johnny Manziel" to "Phillip Rivers" in those years (with much credit to THEM for pointing it out, of course!).

That's a FALSE narrative.

I agree with you. When I say matured, I was speaking of the natural maturation folks usually go through in life. I hate hat media tries to make like you said, a Johnny Manziel and now he's a Phillip Rivers. Cam was never immature to where owners and coaches had to constantly pull him aside. But he was a 21 year old kid and he's a 26 year old man. 

[Mr. Scot]

I swear sometimes it's like people can't wrap their heads around the notion that players develop.

Is Kawann Short the same player now that he was in his rookie year?  No.

Was Josh Norman always a shutdown corner?  No.

Heck, even Luke Kuechly - great as he was coming in - is better now than when he first started.

Bad analysts (and some fans) have this ignorant habit of looking at who a player is right now and saying that's who he always will be.  And sometimes it's true, but you also have to account for the idea that with time, reps and teaching, they could potentially become more than what they are,

Newton did improve this year - a lot - but it's not something that suddenly happened.  It's the culmination of the work that's been going on since the day he first stepped on the Panthers practice field.

If you can't see that, I can't help you.

[FootballMaestro]

10 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I swear sometimes it's like people can't wrap their heads around the notion that players develop.

Is Kawann Short the same player now that he was in his rookie year?  No.

Was Josh Norman always a shutdown corner?  No.

Heck, even Luke Kuechly - great as he was coming in - is better now than when he first started.

Bad analysts (and some fans) have this ignorant habit of looking at who a player is right now and saying that's who he always will be.  And sometimes it's true, but you also have to account for the idea that with time, reps and teaching, they could potentially become more than what they are,

Newton did improve this year - a lot - but it's not something that suddenly happened.  It's the culmination of the work that's been going on since the day he first stepped on the Panthers practice field.

If you can't see that, I can't help you.

True to everything you said (and others).

Regarding the bolded: As you mentioned. People just can't pop out of no where and play QB the way Cam is doing now (from the pocket, making presnap alignments, Post snap alignments, and precision throws when recognizing the blitz). This is what makes what you all are saying so true (and the 'Cam Just Learned To Play QB brigade' so short sighted and disingenuous).

It takes years of commitment in the pocket, development, recognition, hard work, progressive improvement/success (as well as natural Maturing from 21-26 yrs old) on Newton's part.

And any, every NFL player, or astute observer knows (or should know) this when watching Newton.

[KendrickPanther]

He's added things to his game that we haven't seen  him consistently do before. The controlling the defense at the line of scrimmage, pump fakes, audibles, check downs, moving in the pocket, and throwing with touch. He's done these things all of his career but he is doing them on almost every play now. It's consistency and maturation. Not that phony towel on head maturation bs. Maturation as a professional Quarterback. 

[Mr. Scot]

We talked a lot in recent weeks about how patience paid off with Ron Rivera.  Well, believe it or not, sometimes you have to have patience with players too.

Nobody remembers it now but there was a time when people were questioning whether or not Brett Favre could become a great quarterback.  He answered the question, and I believe Newton is answering it now.

[iamhubby1]

Here's my take on this. Cam came out like gang busters. And people did notice. But...the stats never skyrocketed, and the wins didn't follow. So people said Cam had reached his ceiling. He was who they said he was.

 

The vast majority of people let this form their opinion of Cam. The ones that actually followed him saw the reasons. The style of play the Panthers use, they run as much,, or more, than they pass. They really were talent thin for years. And Cam never set the world on fire. So people claimed he hadn't improved.

 

Then this year came around. The wins came. Cam played very well. But the stats look almost identical. And here we are at the NFCC Game. Now people have no recourse but to admit that maybe Cam really is as good as he looks.

 

Football is a strange game. It can humble even the best of them. Cam has improved to the point where his talent is now on full display. And folks are now coming around.

 

If we win the SuperB owl, and Cam does win the MVP. There will be very few people out there that can dismiss his talent. He has broken through. And there will be no stopping him.

 

Or something along those lines.