The final case for Cam Newton

[Sam Mills Fan]

The last time we had the #1 overall pick, the year was 1995. The expansion Panthers had beaten the Jacksonville Jaguars in a coin flip and had the rights to the top pick in the draft. A draft with future megastars like Steve McNair, Tony Boselli, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and Kevin Carter. But the Panthers didn't have any interest in those guys. They had their minds made up that they were going to draft Penn State quarterback Kerry Collins and acquire additional picks in the process. So they traded down to #5 overall and went with Collins who quit the team just 3 years later. The conservative mentality of Bill Polian and Mike McCormack cost the Panthers dearly.

Why didn't they go with McNair? They wanted to go with the safer Collins and didn't want to roll the dice with McNair. Here's what a Steve McNair bio after his death said about that time:

"Steve—by this time dubbed “Air McNair”—was big and strong, could run faster than most running backs and receivers, and had a cannon for an arm.

Some wondered, however, whether the pro game might be too complex for him. Steve was facing unsophisticated defenses almost every game, and he always had the out of running if he didn’t spot a receiver in the clear. In the NFL, by contrast, every down was like solving a math problem."

Sound familiar?

The decision to go with safe Kerry Collins over Steve McNair was one that we couldn't get out of until Jacob Christopher Delhomme led us to a Super Bowl appearance 8 years later.

If Jerry Richardson and this team AGAIN go with the safe option rather than the quarterback with a huge ceiling and AGAIN that person turns out to be a flop, it could set us back ANOTHER 8 years.

Cam Newton has it all. He's smart. He's a leader. He's a winner. He's accurate. He has a great arm. He's extremely difficult to bring down. He is not someone defenders want to see in the open field. He shredded the defenses of the vaunted SEC. He's a bona fide SUPERSTAR, something Charlotte has NEVER had in any sport (except...NASCAR).

He has the potential to be the best player in this entire draft at a position where we need help most. Unless you have a can't-miss prospect at a non-quarterback position that you know is going to dominate like Ndamukong Suh, the quarterback position is the default spot for the #1 overall pick. No other position has NEARLY the impact on the team that the quarterback does. A defensive tackle that never put up impressive stats in college certainly isn't worth a #1 overall pick. And neither is a cornerback. No cornerback has ever been drafted #TWO in the modern era, much less #1. They simply don't have enough impact on a game. The past 3 superstar cornerbacks (Revis, Asomugha, Champ Bailey) haven't sniffed Super Bowl wins. You can't say the same about the best 3 superstar quarterbacks. Peyton, Brady, and Brees have 5 Super Bowl wins between them.

Friends, we are entering the final week before the team we love makes its most important decision since they traded down for Kerry Collins. I hope they don't make the same playing-it-safe mistake that they did before that cost them so dearly.

Cam Newton for the #1 pick.

[CarolinaNut]

i'll be shocked if we stay at one and newton isn't the pick.

[Jackofalltrades]

Dareus.

[Grammer]

how many super bowl wins did mcnair get?

[Sam Mills Fan]

how many super bowl wins did mcnair get?

1 yard away and the Titans were always contenders and always mattered with McNair. Compare that to the Collins trainwreck.

[Sam Mills Fan]

I have to laugh at people wanting Dareus. I get Peterson. I get Green. Dareus? I'd rather have Marvin Austin. Dareus was never dominant. He's the Blaine Gabbert of defensive tackles.

[Cavscout]

I really don't think that Hurney will take the chance on Cameron unless JR told him too

[Zithers]

Kerry and McNair both got to the playoffs four times, both lost the Super Bowl they went to, and both got over 20 TDs exactly three times in their careers. O_o

[Sam Mills Fan]

How many times did we go to the playoffs with Kerry? How many Super Bowls? How many times did the two of them quit their respective teams?

Kerry Collins was a disaster here, let's not try to revise history.

[MHS831]

Last season, Hurney tried to trade up to get Clausen. He offered our first this season. He ignore the red flags (leadership, entitlement). He got burned.

About 40 picks later, he reached by trading up for a running QB on a national championship team. He was to run the wildcat. They loved his athleticism. He never really gained a yard.

So, Hurney knows that red flags are important and that a great athlete at QB is not a great NFL player. He nearly traded away our first and second rounders this season for Clausen and Armanti. It probably scares him to think of what might have been if St. Louis took our offer to move up to #33.

He will not risk his career on Cam Newton. Red flags, the difference between the NCAA and NFL, and reaching for a player is not advised and he will not do that. He has said so. Marcell Dareus is the pick, just like they took Peppers over Harrington when Hurney had the #2 overall pick and Weinke was the QB. We do that again.

[Marguide]

I have to laugh at people wanting Dareus. I get Peterson. I get Green. Dareus? I'd rather have Marvin Austin. Dareus was never dominant. He's the Blaine Gabbert of defensive tackles.

Great line. LOL. That being said, I will still get behind Blaine if he ends up as ours.

Anyway, good post to start the thread and I agree with you 100%.

[theyhateme45]

Just curious.... what tells you that Cam is Smart? And when you say smart I assume you mean in a NFL QB Smarts type of way... Manning, Brady, Brees, Big ben type of smart.

Why is it just because Mcnair did it so will Cam??? Because they are both black? I don;t think you can use any other player to predict Cam's success because he is no other player.

I honeslty want to believe in Cam, but I have seen nothing that shows the he is anywhere close to being NFL QB Smart.... I don't see him calling complicated plays, making audibles, quick reads and NFL speed in the next 3 years. That's how I feel at the moment atleast.... I want to know what you've seen that you are so confident in his NFL QB IQ?

[Sam Mills Fan]

Kerry and McNair both got to the playoffs four times, both lost the Super Bowl they went to, and both got over 20 TDs exactly three times in their careers. O_o

Let's also not forget McNair was once a co-MVP and went to multiple Pro Bowls. A wee better than Kerry Collins.

[KBRed]

Wait...hold on. What happened to Zo, LJ, Mugsy, and Curry?