What it's going to take

[Mr. Scot]

Figured I'd be home about 9pm tonight. As it happens, I didn't get home until about two and a half hours later. Followed the draft as much as possible on NFL Mobile on my phone, but a lot to catch up on. Rather than do all that now though, I think I'll start with my own thoughts.

First thing that comes to mind? Here are some of the things it will take on the part of the Panthers and Cam Newton in order for this to work:

PATIENCE: First and foremost, Newton's going to need time. When Gruden said he was going to have to move to France and learn French immediately, he wasn't kidding. The NFL is a whole other ballgame, and the team needs to give him a solid footing before throwing him into the fire. The transition isn't going to be easy, and thus it shouldn't be expected to be quick. Newton himself needs to be patient too. Based on interviews, he seems to get that, but more than one guy has thrown caution to the winds once the competitive juices got flowing. Best thing he can do is be prepared for - and embrace - taking the long way.

REALISM: Fans can afford to be unrealistic. Coaches can't. Newton's coming from an atmosphere where he was a superior athlete to many of those he faced on the field. That atmosphere doesn't exist anymore. If he goes in expecting to just run over folks like he did in college, he'll get a rude awakening. If that happens, you have to hope it does on the first day of practice, not when he's facing someone like Ray Lewis.

DIPLOMACY: Coming into a situation where you're expected to be "the man" amongst a bunch of guys who are older than you and have been doing what you do longer is tricky for any rookie. It's even trickier when the team drafted another "man" just a year before (and he's still here). The last thing the team needs is an internal blowup, so here's hoping that Newton and Clausen can be friendly rivals. Truth be told, it only takes one of them breaking bad for things to go south. Add to this that the coaches are going to need to be successful in the art of diplomacy. My guess? Rivera's capable, but we'll know soon enough.

A PLACEHOLDER: Regardless of whether Clausen and Newton get along, neither of them needs to be the starter this season. The best thing the team can do (realistically, for both of them) is to get someone who's been around the league to play two roles. One, that of the starter. Two, the guy who's "been where they've been" and can offer tips and info that a coach can't.

On that front, much as I like Matt Moore and think the team should take him to camp, I don't think he's the guy to play that role. Carson Palmer would still be my top choice, but may not be obtainable. However, with the Jaguars having traded up to get Blaine Gabbert, it might be worth a call to Jacksonville to see what it might take to get him on board. Some of his best work was under current Panthers QB Coach Mike Shula, and might be again.

LUCK (NOT THE QB): Arguably the worst thing to happen to Jimmy Clausen last year didn't happen directly to Jimmy Clausen. It happened to Matt Moore. Injuries to Moore forced Clausen into duty way earlier than he should have seen the field, and now who knows whether it might have ruined him for good? The best thing for Newton would be to not see a repeat of that situation. Thus, when it comes to the injury front, the Panthers need to hope to be luckier than they were last year.

WEAPONS: Part of the reason being lucky on the injury front is important is that for any quarterback to succeed, he needs weapons around him. Guys like DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart and Jeremy Shockey can make the pro transition a lot easier...assuming they're available. Steve Smith likely won't be, and DeAngelo Williams might not either. So what you have to hope is that the team does whatever it can to get the right mix on offense. Otherwise it could be 2010 all over again.

A BREAK FROM HISTORY: Pop quiz. Name a great quarterback developed by the Carolina Panthers.

...

Exactly :(

There's a new sheriff in town, and he brought a new staff with him. The expectation is that the new staff couldn't possibly do worse than the last one in the QB development area. I'd like to believe that, but there are no guarantees. If Newton is successfully trained up by the Panthers organization, he'll be the first in their history. That's what you have to hope for.

DISCIPLINE: This isn't not college anymore. Now it's a job, and a job means responsibility. That's difficult enough to explain to a 22 year old kid. It's even more so when that kid gets paid several million dollars before he's worked a single day. If he wants to succeed in the pros, Newton needs to be prepared to work harder than anyone else on the team. Does that alone guarantee success? No, but a lack of it guarantees failure.

So that's a lot to ask already, but truth be told it's not a complete list. There are a million ways to fail in the NFL, and avoiding them all is about as easy as Irish step dancing across a minefield.

Bottom Line: There's a lot that could go wrong here. Even if everything listed here happens, there are no guarantees. The team picked Newton because they believe he can be a franchise quarterback. Here's hoping they're right. But even if they are, the road to get there won't be an easy one (and no one should expect it to be).

[ncmonzta]

Yea but why so much?

[blackcatgrowl]

So you watched the 20 minute interview with Rivera and Hurney? If not, you should. They cover almost all of what you're saying.

Here, let me help you out:

http://www.panthers.com/media-vault/videos/Rivera-Hurney-on-Cam-Newton/86c75ead-919d-4dbe-9092-b767fc5af79c

Credit to Squirrel for posting this in another thread.

[cdandi1]

You missed the meltdown of the servers and the lack of access to the forum.

[philp]

i feel like we said the same thing last year after drafting clausen. another project...great.

[SmootsDaddy89]

TRD committed suicide on justin.tv

auto erotic asphyxiation to a Matt Moore poster.

[AnalyzeThIs#28]

Don't know any great QB's groomed by the panthers... but the Chargers have a good QB.

Maybe Rivera's luck will change the franchise.

[HPPantherzfan]

Pie to you Mr. Scot

I think we made a huge mistake, but he is our guy now so we should all get behind him and hope for the best!

Great post IMO, he will need time and he will need help.

[SOJA]

I love how people say "Its going to be a lot of work for Cam"

No poo transitioning to the NFL isn't easy on many positions. It's like were patronizing him

[PantherFan52]

Watched a lot of newton vids today and one of the biggest things he needs to work on if he's going to be successful is his vision. Whenever he scrambles it looks like his eyes are looking for running lanes rather than looking up field for open receivers.

With his cannon arm and his elusiveness in the pocket he will do some damage if he just gets his eyes up and down field looking for open receivers.

Just my two cents.

[Snake]

As always I enjoy your unbiased assessment. I know you did not want a QB and to put all that behind you is somewhat amazing. Not many can do that for what its worth.

[PantherBrew]

Im interested in the humbleness he is going to need to have with him coming into a new situation.

It is going to be very important that his teammates respect him. I believe he has the Charisma and the leadership to garner the respect of veteran teammates. But he is going to have to earn it.

There will be a moment, maybe this season, maybe next season where he is going to earn that respect and the team will believe in him.

Jake had it in his first game.

It will be an interesting dynamic with the team because there is not an incumbent veteran starter. Imagine how awkward if Jake was still here. That would be tough.

[HPPantherzfan]

I love how people say "Its going to be a lot of work for Cam"

No poo transitioning to the NFL isn't easy on many positions. It's like were patronizing him

What you seem to miss is the fact he has no idea how to run an NFL offense. The FULL playbook will blow him away. His total pass count in 4 years equals almost what his total pass count will be in one season

We are not patronizing him, most it seems realize that while we needed a QB BAD, he wasn't the best talent at QB more less the best talent in the draft; talent we actually need to make us better now, not 3 years from now IF he does make it to Garrard level.

[Proudiddy]

Glad to have you post your thoughts on the pick and give us the Scot treatment on it! I'm confident he'll succeed, and he's smart enough to know this isn't college. He's gonna be fine, and Riv talked about how Chud is going to be able to cater the offense to Cam's success...

I'm really excited about the use of bootlegs that Riv talked about implementing in the presser... I can't remember what team it was, may have been the Bucs this past year that kept killing us with bootlegs to one side and runs to the other, and when we finally had it contained they started hitting us with passes. I look forward to finally having this as a part of our offense and paying back the favor.