Cam's Reads and Pocket Awareness

[MillionDollarCam]

No, this is not a Cam bashing thread; so you can sheath your swords and closet your pitchforks.

Having worked in a quality control setting for a collegiate football program before, this is simply a thread on some things that I think Cam is struggling with that's contributing to the poor showing of our offense.

While Cam's accuracy issues are certainly a problem, his accuracy has always been an issue and it is something that we live with as a fanbase because of the added dimension that having a dual-threat QB provides. Though I don't remember Cam ever being this off, I do believe his general accuracy will return as his shoulder continues to heal.

Note: If you need tangible evidence of Cam's accuracy issues: the average completion percentage for an NFL QB hovers around the 60% mark; Cam has hit that mark only twice.

However, I do have two real issues with the way Cam is playing:

1. Cam's pocket awareness is not what it once was.

Take a look at the following play from 2013 against the Saints.

Cam senses the blitz and steps up in the pocket, ultimately he hits Hixon for the TD.

Now take a look at the following play from last week against the Bills. The protection breaks down and Cam rolls out to the side of the pressure and away from his safety valve (McCaffrey). Even if Cam does escape the pressure he is going to have to throw across his body to try and get rid of the ball.

2. Cam is missing his reads.

Take a look at this play from today's game that resulted in an interception.

Cam misses a wide open Russell Shepard who is actually in the same area as McCaffrey. It's almost like Cam knew presnap that he was going to McCaffrey. I'll also note that Cam's protection was solid on this play.

Locking in on reads is precisely why Kaepernick started to struggle.

Now take a look at the end of this video where Cam leads the entire Seahawks defense to the left side of the field before coming back to hit a wide open Olsen on the right.

Feel free to agree or disagree, but these are a couple things that Cam seems to be struggling with this year.

[Saca312]

Reads were off, but his pocket awareness was completely fine.

 

[nosuchthingasapanther]

newton has always struggled with his reads.

[MillionDollarCam]

1 minute ago, Saca312 said:

Reads were off, but his pocket awareness was completely fine.

 

You can be a pocket QB without having great awareness. Cam is holding on to the ball far too long and while some of this may be attributed to receivers failing to get open, he has to start getting rid of the ball sooner (see the Bills game last week).

I respectfully disagree with Norris. 

[MillionDollarCam]

3 minutes ago, nosuchthingasapanther said:

newton has always struggled with his reads.

I don't ever recall being it this bad.

[Ace_Aladdin]

We need more TE depth and start layering routes 

[t96]

6 minutes ago, nosuchthingasapanther said:

newton has always struggled with his reads.

'15 he was great. '13 he was solid. Every other year he's been terrible. This year and '14 being the worst. Only in '14 he had some accuracy. This year he has zero.

[Pantherxtreme]

5 minutes ago, nosuchthingasapanther said:

newton has always struggled with his reads.

For some reason he does not want to take the layups, every time he threw an interception there was someone running open underneath across his line of sight. 

People keep saying the shoulder, but it's the decision making that has been lacking. 

[nosuchthingasapanther]

1 minute ago, MillionDollarCam said:

I don't ever recall being it this bad.

it's always been masked by his ability to make completions to targets he had no business throwing to to begin with.

most people don't recognize the bad reads unless he throws an incompletion.

his shoulder injury is making it more obvious.

[Still Brooklyn]

Brady is a pocket QB.

Cam is a QB who can play in the pocket.

Jesus, did no one here watch him at Auburn? THAT is Cam.

 

[RumHam]

If youve been in the league this long, rust shouldnt be an issue on these basic decisions. He doesnt have focus.

[KillerKat]

I think Cam has gotten David Carr'd.

Also, there's no time for Cam to look at the setup of the defense because every fuging play Shula can't get the play in fast enough and by the time we line up there's only 5 seconds left on the play clock.

[OneBadCat]

I do believe the shoulder has been a big issue in getting reps and getting comfortable but he is definitely off his game. He looks like he's checked out a bit and not playing loose. He played better as a rookie than he is right now. Seems hesitant and intimidated to throw. He's locking on to receivers at the moment. 

I don't care if Cam is throwing picks as long as he's playing the way Cam should play. That's coming out guns blazing, balls to the walls down field throwing. Not this stuff that's going on right now.

He utimately needs to step up to elevate his teammates. We sure as hell haven't done him any favors but he can't keep leaving plays on the field. 

Olsen is out but we still have Funchess, CMC, Samuel(why are we not letting this dude fly), Shepard and hopefully KB. If these guys are as good as the FO thinks then Shula has the tools to work this out. Or it's his job.

[Semaj]

I believe Cam takes way to many unnecessary hits and sacks.  To me this is a direct result of his lack of pocket awareness.  I was just watching Rodgers, the way he moves around in the pocket, steps up, steps back moves laterally, he knows where the pressure is coming from and most importantly knows when to get rid of the ball to avoid a lot of hits, sacks and loss of yardage that kills drives.  Cam doesn't do this nearly enough.  This has to change.  However, I am not sure it is fixable.  I think a lot of pocket awareness is instinctual.  

Also, if we are going to save Cam and his career, we need to clean house and get a legitimate HC, OC and QB coach to help make him better and help prepare him better for each Sunday.