The final case for Cam Newton

[eViL jEsTeR]

Cam, I wish you well. I hope you change things in Buffalo and get that team up and running and competing in that division. I fuggin hate the Pats and would love to see them finish 3rd or 4th in the division again.

DAR-E-US!!! DAR-E-US!!! DAR-E-US!!!

[Sam Mills Fan]

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?

I pointed out the McNair comparison because nearly the exact stuff, nearly word for word really, was said to criticize McNair when he was coming out. Yeah, they're both black. That's not the point.

As for high football IQ, I only know what I've read from people that played with Cam and coached against him. That's what they've said repeatedly. You don't have one of the best seasons in the history of big-time college football at quarterback if you don't know exactly what you're doing every time you get the ball.

[Sam Mills Fan]

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

Appearing in Space Jam doesn't make you a superstar. :D

[Zithers]

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

Hmm... McNair went to one more PB than Kerry... ?

I'm not saying McNair couldn't have been a better pick. But he did get to learn under a veteran while Collins had to start immediately. Collins also had off-the-field issues before getting his poo together and finally leading a team to a Super Bowl (one year after McNair did, oddly enough). You can't really compare them. Kerry may have been better in Houston and McNair may have bombed over here. Hindsight also has to use context...

[firstdayfan]

This is a very good argument for Cam...but what was failed to mention was the fact that he is a project...he knows nothing about NFL passing games. It was an amazing piece of television when Gruden asked him to call a play and the best he could come up with was "simple means fast". He shredded defenses this year but NFL defenses will figure him out quick and he will have to beat teams with his mind and his arm. I think Cam is a good 2-3 years away from being able to do that at best. I'm not sure I wanna wait that long.

[KBRed]

Appearing in Space Jam doesn't make you a superstar. :D

How dare you tarnish my childhood memories.

[Sam Mills Fan]

Hmm... McNair went to one more PB than Kerry... ?

I'm not saying McNair couldn't have been a better pick. But he did get to learn under a veteran while Collins had to start immediately. Collins also had off-the-field issues before getting his poo together and finally leading a team to a Super Bowl (one year after McNair did, oddly enough). You can't really compare them. Kerry may have been better in Houston and McNair may have bombed over here. Hindsight also has to use context...

Both of Kerry's Pro Bowl appearances were when he wasn't just first alternate, he was second alternate and squeezed in. 1996 and 2008 Kerry Collins were NOT legitimate Pro Bowl-level quarterbacks.

And you're right, who knows how things might have turned out differently. But you can do that with any bust. Maybe if the Vikings had picked Clausen last year and Favre had retired, Clausen would have had a badass year. Maybe Matt Ryan goes to the Raiders and is never heard from again. It's pointless, so we can only go by what actually happened.

[ncbobcat]

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.

Bullsh*t...that is all.

[Sam Mills Fan]

This is a very good argument for Cam...but what was failed to mention was the fact that he is a project...he knows nothing about NFL passing games. It was an amazing piece of television when Gruden asked him to call a play and the best he could come up with was "simple means fast". He shredded defenses this year but NFL defenses will figure him out quick and he will have to beat teams with his mind and his arm. I think Cam is a good 2-3 years away from being able to do that at best. I'm not sure I wanna wait that long.

That Gruden bit was a non-issue and other non-ESPN NFL commentators have said as much. You'd expect Newton to know that verbiage about as much as you or I because we all have the same experience with it...none. Rookies that didn't play in a system with verbiage just aren't even expected to know that verbiage. I see no reason why Cam can't learn it just like everyone else did. After all, there was a time long ago when even Gruden didn't know what that stuff meant. You know how he learned it? Someone taught him just like they'll teach Cam.

[firstdayfan]

I never said he couldn't learn it...it was the fact he couldn't come up with anything.

[Sword]

i guess people expected him to learn imaginary plays and verbage on his own time.

[Marguide]

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?

The question wasn't directed at me, but here is my take anyway.

Some people have an ability to process information quickly on a football field. They can see plays develop and make the appropriate best decision. Cam's play indicates he is one of those people. To me, this defines the intelligence of a QB.

Better yet, he can do this under any kind of pressure you want to throw at him, whether it is a blitzing linebacker, or the scandal with his father, for example. This is a rare trait.

He does not yet know how to put his football intelligence into words. And it is exactly as Gruden described, he is learning a foreign language. As someone who has gone through the process of learning another language by immersion, I can tell you that in the early stages you understand more than you can express. You tend to hold back in saying something from fear of sounding stupid. It is only when you gain the confidence to start speaking the language that you begin to make real progress.

Cam can learn the language and how to diagram plays and defenses. He already has much of this information in his head, whether he realizes it or not, and just needs some time to gain the confidence to express himself in this new language.

[Swarly]

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.

lolololololol no

someones sig here, I believe "number28" said it best.

"Dareus may not be as hot a name because he's been out there as a top draft prospect for so long... "

Drafting a DT will never be the same after Suh. Everyone is going to want DT's to live up to the hype of Suh and it will probably never happen again. There is a reason many called Suh a once in a generation prospect.

Dareus is about as good as it gets as a prospect.

[Bj-Monster23]

This is a very good argument for Cam...but what was failed to mention was the fact that he is a project...he knows nothing about NFL passing games. It was an amazing piece of television when Gruden asked him to call a play and the best he could come up with was "simple means fast". He shredded defenses this year but NFL defenses will figure him out quick and he will have to beat teams with his mind and his arm. I think Cam is a good 2-3 years away from being able to do that at best. I'm not sure I wanna wait that long.

Im not sure hurney and Rivera got that long. But the funny thing about that you can say the same for dareus I cant see him having a suh impact or mario Williams or Peppers. Dont get me wrong the guy is a stud DT but do you wanna pay somebody almost 40 to 50 Million who isnt going to get about 5 to 6 sacks a year.I mean im just saying. I just dont know who it might be. It kind of makes me say F*** it lets just take Von Miller at least we know we might have a stud who is going to produce.