What is this UPSIDE that makes Cam better than Gabbert?

[MHS831]

Stevie Wonder can see that Cam has more upside than any QB in this draft.

I bet he can. You share his vision of Cam.

[Mr. Scot]

Response to a few different things:

- The "he's a winner" thing is completely meaningless. I'm not sure why people use it. Chris Weinke, Matt Leinart and David Carr were all "winners" at the college level too.

- Invoking college stats is meaningless too. Some of the most phenomenal statistical performances at the college level belonged to guys like Tim Couch, Colt Brennan and Chase Daniel. It doesn't translate to the pros (and don't bother bringing up the SEC; it's still nowhere close to pro level competition).

- Accuracy at the combine? Well, Blaine Gabbert's accuracy at his pro day doesn't really mean much. But answer this: If a guy can only manage 50% accuracy with no defense on the field, explain to me why I shouldn't be concerned about what will happen when he's up against pro level defenders.

(and please don't give me the "not his own receivers" thing; it's ridiculous; nobody else had their own guys out there; heck, Gabbert wound up throwing to Ricky Proehl for cryin' out loud)

- Yes, he's big, strong and agile...against college players. So were Ryan Leaf and Daunte Culpepper. Leaf still stunk and Culpepper fell apart without Randy Moss to pitch to. Add in that he was getting up slowly after hits from said college players in the BCS game. If college guys can rock him, what happens when John Abraham or Brian Urlacher hits him?

- And ah, the Roethlisberger argument. News flash guys. Roethlisberger's QB skills aren't that great. He plays in an offense that minimizes that, plus there's his ability to shake off defenders. What no one ever seems to quite get is that one of the reasons he's constantly shaking off defenders is that he's holding on to the ball too long. Sorry, not what I want in my QB.

- Dan Reeves says take him. Cool. Brian Billick said he wouldn't touch him with the number one pick. Now, if you want to be predictable, you can respond to that by going into spin mode and explaining why Dan Reeves opinion means more than Billick's. If it were flip-flopped, I'm sure you could also come up with spin that Billick knows more than Reeves. This is what happens when you base your take on someone's opinion on whether they agree with you or not. My reaction to both opinions is to make a mental note of it and that's about it.

- And I still can't believe that people are talking about making this pick because offense and/or QB is "our biggest need". That may be true, but in regard to this season, picking Newton is meaningless. Pretty much no one, even among his boosters, expects him to be ready to play as a rookie. "Sign a veteran" you say? Good. I agree, but if I'm gonna do that, why pick Newton at #1 rather than someone who can actually make an impact in future years and right now?

Bottom Line: Whether folks want to admit it or not, there are plenty of question marks with Newton. It is not guaranteed that he will succeed at the pro level. I'd put the odds at about 50-50, and that's not good enough for me to use the #1 pick. We already have question marks at the QB spot. I'm not interested in having competing question marks at camp.

No doubt people will say "everybody has question marks". Guess what? Everybody has "upside" too, and neither is quantifiable. It's a judgment call in both cases, and my judgment is that "upside" doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot to our current QB situation.

Forget the youth this season. Get the best vet you can and look to next year's draft when the odds of getting a franchise guy should be better.

[Sam Mills Fan]

Gabbert is the best opinion for a pro-style quarterback in the draft this year, i think to be a quarterback in the NFL the best intangible to have is football IQ and from what i have heard Gabbert studies film like its a religion.

Gabbert didn't play in a pro-style offense.

[CarolinaVeins]

Gabbert is the best opinion for a pro-style quarterback in the draft this year, i think to be a quarterback in the NFL the best intangible to have is football IQ and from what i have heard Gabbert studies film like its a religion.

I also heard he got a 42 on the wonderlic

[ncmonzta]

This is irrelevant. What Newton did to win those games, he will not be able to do in the NFL. This is why I continue to ask, can anyone show me a highlight of Newton doing anything other than running around people?

I have never seen a highlight of Newton throwing a TD strike to a receiver. For someone who is a 'natural passer,' he sure stunk it up in the combine and pro day when passing the ball.

Coming up!

Enjoy!

[CarolinaVeins]

There is a double standard, of course. Much of that is brought on by Cam's character. Should a person with a checkered past not be scrutinized more than a person without one? Is is a double standard to wonder about character based on the past before you give a 21 year old the key to the city?

Who said it had to be fair? Actually, it would not be fair to Gabbert if these things weren't brought up. I have a reputation in my world because I earned it. I don't expect a guy with a shady past to be on equal footing with me when applying for a job.

Thats just it...its the past. Time to get over it dude. Will you still be bringing up the past if he brings a trophy here too? Hes got a few of those while dealing with his PAST

[Mr. Scot]

Considering the Panthers have Gabbert coming in today, would a responsible, unbiased journalist not cover THAT story?

Private workout. Not open to journalists.

[teeray]

Lol at Scot still not being able to figure out at completion percentage at the combine doesnt mean anything. It is even more funny when you take into account he spent two weeks prior to the combine explaining to us that the combine didn't matter but only film work was important.

Then he talks about things that aren't quantifiable but then arbitrarily gives Newton a 50-50 chance of succeeding so he doesn't want to take him number one. A completely made up percentage that is absolutely unquantifiable.

:rofl: you guys are seriously in full panic mode.

[TheRed]

Response to a few different things:

- The "he's a winner" thing is completely meaningless.

What? Your bias is always good for a laugh. But you are completely delusional.

[Evil Hurney]

First off do you really think auburn's team is really that much better than mizzou's? Take away cam and you probably wouldn't have even said there name once this year. Gabbert has had the oppertunity to throw to nfl caliber recivers in j. machlin,and danrio alexander(looked very good for the Rams before injury). Name me one of auburns recivers without looking it up?

Leadership-Yes gabbert lead his team to a insight.com bowl loss, while Cam Newton "willed" his team to the national championship.The investigation was his own doing but he thrived in it and didn't fold.The comeback against Alabama was nothing less than a thing of beauty against maybe the best team in the country.

What makes Gabbert a better leader than cam what has he lead anywhere? No one seems to consider it's important to be a winner,didn't we see this with clausen last year? looking good in prodays is fine and dandy but the game is played on the field.

Arm strength-I think both of them have a great arm, infact i'm not even sure

who's arm is bigger. Gabbert can throw but isn't very accurate with the deep ball. Some would say this is where cam is best at.

Moblity-yes both have similar 40 times and i must say i was suprised by gabberts speed.But do you really think he's as fast as cam? They both cam exstend plays but cam has a much bigger edge in avoiding the pass rush.Gabbert looks kind of "wonky" and flustered when asked to make plays outside of the pocket.Cam looks like he's in his element avoiding sacks and picking up big gains.

I know your not big on moblity but please believe it is a much bigger facter than you think. Imagine if brady or manning had the same speed to exstend play's a tenth of a second longer to find a open reciver or pick up an important third and five.

Maclin was gone before Gabbert was a starter, and the year Danario was there Gabbert had better stats.

[Mr. Scot]

What? Your bias is always good for a laugh. But you are completely delusional.

Take a look over the past ten to twenty years history of Heisman and National Championship winners, then come back and tell me again how well that translates into the NFL.

Lol at Scot still not being able to figure out at completion percentage at the combine doesnt mean anything. It is even more funny when you take into account he spent two weeks prior to the combine explaining to us that the combine didn't matter but only film work was important.

Then he talks about things that aren't quantifiable but then arbitrarily gives Newton a 50-50 chance of succeeding so he doesn't want to take him number one. A completely made up percentage that is absolutely unquantifiable.

:rofl: you guys are seriously in full panic mode.

I'll ask the question you didn't answer again:

Explain to me why I shouldn't be concerned about what a guy who could only manage 50% accuracy with no defense on the field will be like when he's up against pro level defenders?

(and again, the "not his own receivers" argument is stupid, so don't bother with that one)

You guys think Newton is good enough. I don't. Like I said, it's all judgment call. Mine is different from yours. We'll eventually find out who was right.

I've been wrong before - and am comfortable with that - but I've been right before too.

[CatMan72]

Do the people who want us to draft Cam Newton think of him as a first season starter and/or do you think we'll be winning immediately in a 2008 Falcons fashion if that's the case?

This isn't a rhetorical question, I legitimately want to see some opinions on it.

If we drafted Cam, I wouldn't want to see him start right away unless Coach Rivera decided he was ready. I would like to see us bring in a vet QB as a stop gap while Cam learns how to get it done in the NFL.

In general, I think too many young QB's are asked to play right away.

[micnificent28]

How are the chances of finding a franchise quarterback better next year? The same thing was about this years class comparing to last years and guess what happened? Locker the supposed number 1 quarterback in this years class stock fell through the floorboards. Ponder didn't live up to his first round billing,mallet invested in coke zero.

All world quarterback Andrew luck was consider the 3rd or fourth best quarterback at best. What does all this mean? The point is there is no promise next tears crop will be as good as this seasons. Stocks change all the time, luck and, and Barkley are underclassmen and don't have to enter the draft.

Take away those to or even one of them and this years class looks slot better in my eyes.

[Sam Mills Fan]

Yeah Scot has zero credibility left on his QB analysis. He wrote his dissertations about how irrelevant the combine and private workouts were and how game tape was the #1 thing to go by BEFORE Cam had a disappointing combine. Now he's completely flipped on that one. I've seen him argue that what players did in college doesn't matter, their pro days don't matter, their combines don't matter, their measurements don't matter. Hell, I guess nothing matters and we should just go get someone to make the local good ol' boys happy. TJ Yates at #1 anybody? Is CJ Leak still draft eligible?