Sorenson: Claussen will almost certainly open season as starter

[necroplasm]

I will say this, Rivera has been turned down multiple times for a head coaching job.. so he will have very little to hold back. He will be motivated as hell to win...

..so Clausen will be on the bench day 1.

or cut/traded.

[TheGreatestOfAllTimeCam]

I will say this, Rivera has been turned down multiple times for a head coaching job.. so he will have very little to hold back. He will be motivated as hell to win...

..so Clausen will be on the bench day 1.

or cut/traded.

I pray you're right. No more of this mickey mouse poo at the QB position. And Clausen is the epitome of that.

[rayzor]

couple things i found interesting that i agre with somewhat....

Although he grew up outside Los Angeles and played at Notre Dame, Clausen reminded me of a sheltered, private-school athlete. His game was practiced and prepared. It was as if there were lots of rules but no improvisation.

When defenders deviated, he allowed himself to be overwhelmed. Are they allowed to do that? Yes. Repeatedly.

.

.

.

The quality Clausen lacked most was poise. Unwilling to risk an interception, he'd hang onto the ball. A quarterback who is willing to fire away is called a gunslinger. Clausen was a holster.

the comments about him being "practiced and prepared" but unable to improvise when situations called for it is incredi ly valid. considering his lifelong preparation for it. it reminds me of different musicians that i worked with in the past. they would have been taught from a very early age how to play/sing other people's music perfectly, but unable to make it their own or create their own music. all the perfect practice and preparation in the world won't make you complete as musician or player. at some point you have to learn how to take what you've been taught and create something new with it. learned skills are just tools. what makes you a master is what you decide to do with them.

i thought this next part was pretty funny.

Also, for a guy who makes his living with his body, Clausen looked pudgy. One Panther asked him if the Fighting Irish had a weight room.

State of the art, Clausen said.

The next question was: "Ever use it?"

I saw Clausen this spring, however, and he obviously had spent time in somebody's gym. He looked lean and athletic, and without ascribing qualities that might not exist, he at least sounded confident.

good to hear he's taking the physical conditioning part more seriously.

the thing that bothered me about he article was this...

Because Clausen failed last season, I know many of you already have given up on him.

We live in a quick-twitch world. We want what we want when we want it. Because the Panthers play only 16 games a season, we are ready to announce whether a player is a success or failure after a season, a month or a half.

We disdain the subtleties and the shading. It's like talk radio. There is no gray.

We refuse to acknowledge that the talented offensive line, which never came together after tackle Jeff Otah's day-to-day knee injury lasted all season, might have been a factor.

Two rookie wide receivers weren't a factor.

A lame-duck coach whose only goal was to win now wasn't a factor.

When Carolina had the ball last season, you wanted to make a beer run even if you didn't drink. Somebody had to be blamed. So blame the rookie quarterback.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/07/09/2442869/expect-a-leaner-clausen-to-come.html#ixzz1S0z7RKSb

i agree that there were a lot more things going wrong and to blame. it's pretty obvious. i haven't seen anyone blaming everything on clausen. he was a significant par of what happened, though, and well worthy of criticism's levelled at him. he was handed a bunch of lemons and made pickled beets.

[CatMan72]

I have no problem with sacraficing Clausen to the football gods in order to avoid ruining Cam.

[rayzor]

if newton has a firm grasp on the playbook and the respect of the players, then he needs to be the starter, esp. if there is no one significantly better on the roster.

if all that he has left to learn is the speed of the game and how to read and respond to defenses, then he needs to be in there to learn it. can't coddle the guy because we are afraid of "ruining" him. let him earn his lumps and build that relationship with his team on the field in real games.

[B.BERSIN]

You guys are all motherfugers

[Davidson Deac II]

QBs rarely improve year 1 to year 2. I don't see why people keep thinking this is realistic.

Don't agree with this at all. Almost all players, QB's included improve from yr 1 to yr2. Of course, they are asked to do more, so their numbers tend to suffer, but that certainly doesn't mean they don't improve.

Thats not to say Clausen will or will not start.

[Davidson Deac II]

Also, fwiw I wouldn't trust any coach that planned on handing the reins over to a player who hasn't yet played a single NFL down. Lets at least wait and see how he does in preseason.

[CAVSS]

Im sure the coaching staff, at this point, believes it is doubtful that Pickles will start. They have no reason not to. All they have to go on is last year's tape. Like when he was blatantly outplayed by St. Pierre; a guy that no one else wanted and had only been on the team a few days. The truth is though that no one knows who will be starting until the season starts. There is a whole training camp and pre-season for our guys to compete and show the coaches who is ready.

May the best cam win. j/k

[Fiz]

i was actually thinking about this and how you could justify starting clausen and you simply can't, just because in a simple offense, which I think they're going to run regardless, Cam Newton offers you far more than Pickles.

I don't think Clausen was ruined last year for good, but he regressed throughout the year and should probably be regarded as a rookie.

Let's say the Panthers want to run the ball 40 times a game, both to take advantage of their strength and let both develop slowly behind center. Who do you want rolling out on a play action?

Not only does Cam have a stronger arm (and not just because Clausen has no deep ball) but if he gets into the open field he's going to ruin some poo. Not many corners are going to be able to bring him down. Additionally, because of that, defenses are going to have to respect him and give him more throwing options. That linebacker that can stick with a tight end doing whatever now has to stick with Cam. If Jimmy took off I think he might succeed the first time due to everyone laughign so hard but he'd be murdered the second time.

Cam's also about 6 foot thirty so even with someone in his face he's going to have a clear view.

I don't know, I think when building an offense for a young QB, Cam offers worlds more than Pickles.

[YoungPanthers89]

[Fiz]

Also keep in mind Cam has spent almost every moment since he was drafted at IMG, training with current and former NFL players.

Not only that, he's had a private tutor to help him with the playbook. Dorsey played under Chudzinski both at UMiami and Cleveland.

It's a safe assumption he has a better grip on the offense at this point than Jimmy.

[OneBadassCat]

How do you know that Jimmy isn't doing something similar?

[Fiz]

How do you know that Jimmy isn't doing something similar?

Gantt's tweeting.

He's working to be sure, but nothing like what cam is getting.

It's not really fair to be honest. Cam got the invite because they want him to be sorta their pilot program that launches their football division, so they're throwing the kitchen sink at him. Jimmy isn't exactly as sexy a first pupil.