People afraid of drafting Cam Newton

[Peppers90 NC]

What about him? Triple crown winner at the wide receiver position, multiple pro bowls, arguably one of the top 5 receivers in the past decade, carried franchise on his back for multiple years, proven winner at the NFL level. it's easy to cheer for a guy like that.

Cam doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same paragraph as Steve Smith.

Not only that, you have to compare the two incidents. One, who is a hothead, makes a quick thoughtless decision to assault a couple dudes in the heat of a moment, this guy is also a complimentary player on your team. You have next guy, who plays a leadership role on the team because of his position making premeditated bad decisions. There is a big difference in the two. But this is not why I personally would not want to choose Cam #1.

[Mother Grabber]

What recent shift to mobile QB's is that? I must've missed it.

I think it's part of the new CBA, must be one of the sticking points.

[panthers55]

And his "character concerns" span out over his entire collegiate career. From cheating on tests and throwing stolen laptops out the window, to accepting money to play football. My biggest issue with his character concerns is it seems he didn't learn from mistakes. He just kept on making mistake after mistake.

Totally off the wall. Truth is that he had character concerns as a freshmen, Since then there is no indication that he has character issues given much of that is allegations about his father not him. Folks for the most part believe he has great leadership skills and good character.

[CRA]

What about him? Triple crown winner at the wide receiver position, multiple pro bowls, arguably one of the top 5 receivers in the past decade, carried franchise on his back for multiple years, proven winner at the NFL level. it's easy to cheer for a guy like that.

Cam doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same paragraph as Steve Smith.

Cam Newton had college stats, Heisman, National Championship........JOAT said he wouldn't cheer for him b/c he wasn't a good guy. I asked what about Steve Smith.....he has suckerpunched 2 teammates in the face (and local beat writers claim there is 3rd). He has kicked opponents in the head. I just don't see how a college kid intentionally buying a stolen laptop makes him a worse person than Steve Smith. Steve Smith is basically the definition of what you don't want your kid to be like in a sport enivroment. He will cuss out the coach, QB and the opponents ball boy if he feels like it.

[MHS831]

are afraid of taking chances in life. They are probably stuck in middle management...if they made it that far. Stuck in a no a where job. They don't dream. They are afraid of greatness. Their wives hate them and their kids don't look up to them.

.

I will play along--making light of this is good for everyone.

People who think we should draft Cam:

Don't have a wife and kids, but can dream.

Answer every door hoping to see the Publisher's Clearing House Van outside.

Call lottery tickets thier retirement plan.

Think character, ethics, values and integrity are words that describe losers.

Are the reason we have a labor force at carnivals and fairs.

Question: "a no a where job?" WaTaF?

[Mr. Scot]

Cam Newton had college stats, Heisman, National Championship........

In fairness, none of those point really mean anything in the pros.

Look up the history of the Heisman winners, National Championship QBs and college statistical leaders, you'll find the names of a lot of guys that didn't do squat in the NFL.

[carolinarolls]

there should be no fear to draft him

worst thing that can happen is we suck...again

[Mr. Scot]

there should be no fear to draft him

worst thing that can happen is we suck...again

I don't think there is any fear.

That doesn't mean it's the best option, though.

[MHS831]

In fairness, none of those point really mean anything in the pros.

Look up the history of the Heisman winners, National Championship QBs and college statistical leaders, you'll find the names of a lot of guys that didn't do squat in the NFL.

Here is a list of Heisman winning QBs since 1990. Sounds like a wing in Canton:

1990 Ty Detmer

1992 Gino Torretta

1993 Charlie Ward

1996 Danny Wuerffel

2000 Chris Weinke

2001 Eric Crouch

2002 Carson Palmer*

2003 Jason White

2004 Matt Leinart

2006 Troy Smith

2007 The Golden Calf of Bristol

2008 Sam Bradford

2010 Cam Newton

[MHS831]

there should be no fear to draft him

worst thing that can happen is we suck...again

That is reason to fear drafting him.

[carolinarolls]

I don't think there is any fear.

That doesn't mean it's the best option, though.

exactly my point to the OP.:cheers2:

Taking a risk is not the question here. We will be taking a risk whatever we do.

Its actually funny the OP considered Cam when he spoke of risk though eh?

[Mr. Scot]

Trent Dilfer said in an ESPN radio interview that he thinks Andy Dalton should be a first round pick.

Taking him at #1 would sure be gutsy, now wouldn't it? :eek:

[TheRealDeal]

Everyone has said all along, if you're good enough to go in the first round, you're good enough to go at #1 so I can't wait until the huggers try and explain this

[Darth Bobo]

Cam Newton could be a huge playmaker, but he is inaccurate compared to other QBs in this draft so far. That means Newton probably requires having his throwing mechanics changed by a coach, unless he pulls some sort of Favre miracle out of the bag.

So, look at the resume of the man who would be responsible for developing Cam Newton, its: Mike Shula. He was coaching Jacksonville's QBs, and influencing their personnel aquisitions/departures at that position for 4 years.

During Shula's tenure, Garrard completed 1,093 of 1,742 passes (62.7 percent) for 12,460 yards and 71 touchdowns with 41 interceptions, and he rushed for 1,109 yards and 11 touchdowns.

...

Shula's arrival in Jacksonville coincided with Garrard taking over as the starter, and in their first season together, Garrard finished with the second-lowest single-season interception percentage in NFL history with 300-plus pass attempts, tossing just three picks in 325 attempts.

In 2007, it is likely that Shula either made or helped make the decision to sit Byron Leftwich, who left the next year. After leaving Jacksonville, Leftwich did not win a starting job or exceed expectations for another NFL team, so his departure should be seen as a good football decision. In the years before Shula arrived in Jacksonville, Leftwhich and Garrard were basically matching each others' routinely mediocre performance from year to year, neither really distinguishing themselves from the other.

As a side note it should also be noted that RB Maurice Jones-Drew (who came out strong) arrived as a rookie the year before Shula, and so Shula's first year was Maurice's second. Only mentioned this so people aren't hand-cuffing Garrard's improvement with Jones-Drew's arrival.

QB Cleo Lemon - 6 yr journeyman, joined the Jags in 2008(Shula's 2nd yr). His prior resume was unimpressive and he never played. Impossible to evaluate. Why take him?

QB Luke McCown - former Buc, joined the Jags in 2009, and was still there in 2010. Extremely limited use in both years, impossible to evaluate. However, why take in a player who did not impress after 4 years at the Bucs, including the departure of a good head coach there? It seems to me to be at least a questionable acquisition.

QB Trent Edwards - former Bill ~5yr vet, joined the Jags as an injkury stop-gap in 2010, and did not play well in 2 or 3 hours of regular season game time. Was probably considered a player who would not lose games on his own, but he certainly did not win any. Not a success story for Shula, but the free agent market was slim at that time.

QB Todd Bouman - 12yr journeyman, played Week 7 game for the Jags in 2010 and wasn't horrible.

SADLY, throughout Shula's 3 year tenure at the Jacksonville Jaguars not one single quarterback was drafted in any round of the NFL draft. He literally has no experience in coaching up a raw rookie draft pick. He has always worked with either incumbents, or with bringing in veteran QB's. Of the veteran QB's that have been brought into the Jag fold, we see nothing but question-marks.

The only thing we really know about Mike Shula as a Quarterbacks coach is that David Garrard improved after his arrival, plus any anecdotal evidence one of you may have. In terms of drafting Cam Newton, we should neither bet FOR nor AGAINST Newton getting great coaching support as a developmental QB on our team.

In my mind, the uncertainty about Shula's ability to coach up a rookie makes drafting Newton an even greater risk than it might otherwise be. If Shula had even one guy from his NFL history that he could say was his personal project and success story, I would sound differently.

Prior to his NFL career, Shula was the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, which included Brodie Croyle(2006) He didn't win championships there and was fired. Nick Saban his predecessor, formerly Miami Dolphins, recently did(2009)