Clausen must start! Yes, you read this right.

[carpanfan96]

Im thinking that Cam Newton being a part of this team was a BIG reason alot of these guys resigned. Cam represents a new direction and he ignites some excitement about this organization again. I understand the argument to start Jimmy... but with the pieces that Cam has... I dont see why he cant see some success early on. He has a power running game... a veteran WR in Steve Smith, a healthy o-line, the BEST TE core in the league, and 2 young receivers to grow with.

Can you imagine, Steve Smith in an interview with Marty and Rivera:

"Steve, we're going in a new direction this year and we want you to be apart of it. Jimmy's gonna throw you the ball more often!"

Naaah. Dont see it.

Haha, nice.

[panthers55]

For me the major difference between them and Cam as that their teams had time to get ready for the season and coaching changes. Unlike those teams our timeline is cut in half. It just seems like we will be rushing for no reason.

It will be a slow process for sure and he won't be great out of the box

[Lords0fPain]

I say let the kid play....why, to relief all doubt of how capable he is (or isn't). JC's advantage , is he knows how fast and hard hitting the NFL can be, compared to college. But, Cam is the man in the Carolinas, until he proves himself differently. The Panthers are building this team around Cam. Heck, maybe JC is an awesome "spot" duty QB...we need to find out...right??? :D

[panthers55]

Why play Newton? As someone said, Smith is here because Newton is. I don't doubt a lot of the other player signings are influenced by that as well. They know what we do, Cam is the future of the franchise.

[Majestic87]

See I was thinking negative before I came in here....But thats a good point...Let's just say....Clausen some how leads us to the Playoffs while throwing for 3500 yards and 17 TDs...Y'all don't think that would pay off?....I say go for it...If he can't produce the first time games...throw Killa Cam in

[Gipetto]

jimmy can't get any worse......or can he? i sure as hell don't want to find out

[Carolina Crazy V2]

Who are you 20 motherfuc*ers!

[jarhead]

I think it is wrong to put him in before the coaches can evaluate him and Cam.D Anderson looked as bad as Clausen last year in my view.Not really alot of good options.I do not feel qualified to comment on Bulger or Voleck.

[Fan01]

This team wants the best QB to start but don't foot yourself. They want Cam to be that guy.

I'm a Clausen fan. I think he's going to end up a pretty good QB in the league in a few years but don't fool yourself. You're not going to increase his trade value in a few games. Other teams who have sought after backups develop them over a couple of years and this is what I think the Panthers should do.

I think we should keep him, develop him. In a few years we'll end up with a very, very good backup, possible starter who can step right in if Cam gets sidelined for a few games or a Kolb situation.

Plus, we've got real competition for Cam and that's a good thing.

[Kettle]

it could be argued that we have no easier game than the cardinals in wk 1

[boo7382]

I have heard from a couple people that they were gonna let Jimmy start and suck ass and then let Cam come in to save the day after Jimmy is benched.

[Jpjr]

I'll throw this out there in regards to the "who should start" question...

This is Cam Newton's team now. Clausen will not be "beating" Cam out of that role. You don't draft a guy #1 for it not to be his team. So, logically, who starts game 1 or any other game that matter will be determined by... Cam. That's right, if Cam is ready to go game 1 he starts game 1. Bradford was ready to go and he started, no problem. If Cam is not ready to go... yes you start Clausen. You may have the added benefit, if he performs well, of stringing Cam along a bit while boosting Clausen's trade value. But those are secondary considerations. It's all about when Cam is ready to take over the team.

So, in summary, this thread should really be titled "Will Cam be ready to start game 1?" That is a far more interesting disussion IMO.

[CRA]

Jimmy will outshine Cam. Training Camp, Pre-season, and Regular Season.

Jimmy was historically bad and reports are he looked much worse in practice than on Sundays.....

Claiming he will outshine someone with a much better skill set at the QB position would be like claiming unicorns will fly out of Rivera's butt.

[Jpjr]

Jimmy was historically bad and reports are he looked much worse in practice than on Sundays.....

Claiming he will outshine someone with a much better skill set at the QB position would be like claiming unicorns will fly out of Rivera's butt.

This said, Jimmy's only glimmer of hope is that he is up against a guy who is simply not a precision passer (please don't force me to youtube) and will very likely get banged up. If Andrew Luck had been drafted Jimmy's career in Carolina would be officially over.