ESPN First Take

[jtm]

Year before last Tampa went 3-13. Last year they were 10-6 in the same incredibly tough NFC South. We have a more talented team than the Bucs do, but it will come down to QB play. If Cam or Clausen has an average to above average year, we will surprise a lot of people.

[psyburn21]

I don't agree with the "Cam can turn around Panthers" talk. Quarterback play was really bad last year but the injury bug hit the team pretty hard. With a healthy team, Cam can HELP turn the teams record around from last season. As a healthy team the Panthers are a very competitive, something they were not last season.

I agree the health was a big issue last season, but QB play was the worst part of the team by far. I agree with the "Cam can turn around Panthers" talk in this way; from what I've seen of him and even with rookie mistakes that he could make, he's not gonna play worse then the QBs last season at any point during this season. Not saying he's gonna be great or anything like that at all, I'm only saying that the QB play last year was all-time terrible.

[CRA]

If Cam can replicate Vince's rookie campaign, coupled with the coaching, and the sheer offensive talent we have?

I see 8 wins minimum.

If can duplicates what VY did I would say we realistically could be over .500 simply b/c the team around Cam is better.

[Kurb]

Cam Newton = Black QB = He will be a mix of Vince Young, Jamarcus Russell, and Mike Vick :rollseyes:

Also needs McNabb as a mentor and has to call Tony Dungey once a week.

Media promotes profiling more than any other thing.

[rico6]

IMO, I believe this whole VY is "dysfuntional ish" is ridiculous. Everyone handles pressure differently. That doesn't make them dysfunctonal just because the media said so. Carson Palmer showed his immaturity by pouting and demanding to be traded. No one in the media labeled him as dysfunctional or immature.

Anyway, unlike a lot of these QBs who are treated like rock stars in college, Cam felt the wrath of the media at the peak of his success in college and handled it with grace and class. And during the draft season had to endure ridicule and stereoptyical accusations and he rised above that also.

Does that make him better than VY, or any of the QBs? Maybe, maybe not..But as they say, the true test of a man's character isn't when things are going well but when they are not. And so far Cam has proven the ability to handle adversity very well. I hope it continues cause what doesn't break u really does strengthens you.

Bro, he went to a strip club and ended up beating the manager. You just don't do that.

VY has issues.

[PntherPryd]

If Skip Bayless had been there this thread would be 10+ pages long. I caught the segment and everyone seemed to be in agreement on Cam starting and the Panthers improved. But according to Skip last week the Panthers have "the worst roster in the NFL!" I'm sure the segment would have been a lot louder, a lot more interesting and a lot more critical if Skip had participated.

[Chaos]

Also needs McNabb as a mentor and has to call Tony Dungey once a week.

Media promotes profiling more than any other thing.

qft

[Verge]

If Skip Bayless had been there this thread would be 10+ pages long. I caught the segment and everyone seemed to be in agreement on Cam starting and the Panthers improved. But according to Skip last week the Panthers have "the worst roster in the NFL!" I'm sure the segment would have been a lot louder, a lot more interesting and a lot more critical if Skip had participated.

Bull Poo.

Broncos

Bills

Titans

Dolphins

Bengals

Browns

Raiders

Jaguars

Redskins

Buccaneers

Cardinals

Rams

Seahawks

49ers

all have a less talented roster, this lack of respect thing makes me sick.

[Makish]

CAM reminds me of roeslithberger when he scrambles and is hard to take down and throwing B. Farve with velocity and young farve loved to throw of his back foot

[rayzor]

Cam Newton = Black QB = He will be a mix of Vince Young, Jamarcus Russell, and Mike Vick :rollseyes:

i think a mash of big ben, the mature vick, and favre (the gunslinger) is about right.

comparison with VY, though, i think is appropriate. got nothing to do with skin color. i think newton comes in with more talent as a QB, but the results and stats at the end of the year could look very similar. of course even though the titans were 8-8 at the end of the year, they were 8-5 with VY starting. i don't know if things will work out that well, but him throwing for nearly 2200 yards, 12 TDs and 13 INTs with a 51% comp% and a 66 QB rating as well as running for over 500 yards and getting 7 rushing TDs seems reasonable...esp. if things click well on both sides of the ball.

Year before last Tampa went 3-13. Last year they were 10-6 in the same incredibly tough NFC South. We have a more talented team than the Bucs do, but it will come down to QB play. If Cam or Clausen has an average to above average year, we will surprise a lot of people.

bucs did benefit in their schedule from facing us 2x. not sure we will have any team in the NFCS that we could sweep.

that said, i don't see us getting swept by everyone in the division. maybe one or two teams, but not all three.

6-7 win season seems reasonable. an 8 win season is possible. a 9 or 10 win season isn't impossible if the defense dominates and the offense can get down the field and into the endzone a 2-3 times a game.

[rayzor]

Bull Poo.

Broncos

Bills

Titans

Dolphins

Bengals

Browns

Raiders

Jaguars

Redskins

Buccaneers

Cardinals

Rams

Seahawks

49ers

all have a less talented roster, this lack of respect thing makes me sick.

not sure about the seahawks there...anyway, how much hype are any of these teams getting? i'm not hearing much about any of them...definitely not more attention than the panthers are getting. any talk about the broncos has more to do with The Golden Calf of Bristol not getting the starting gig.

no one is going out of their way to talk about the bucs except to mention that they were solid last year and there is little reason to believe they won't be this year. until you can prove you are better or worse than the year before, the safe bet is that there won't be a whole lot of difference. only way to prove one way or the other is in the regular season on game day. mentioning them with the other winning teams from last year from the division makes sense just like excluding the panthers from the discussion does. i would do it for any other team in any other division.

[setzer2030]

They both didn't feel that Clausen is the answer and starting him will lead to drafting a number 1 draft pick again.

Since the majority of the team will be healthy enough to start week 1, Armanti is makings strides, and a new coaching system in place, I really doubt the team would be in contention for the #1 pick if Jimmy started all year. Even if Cam doesn't leave the bench all year, Cincinnati, Washington, and Miami will finish with worse records.

[Mr ocho nueve]

I stopped watching 1st and 10 this week due to the fact Skip is on vacation. These other "analysts" are boring imo.

[Jangler]

Cam Newton = Black QB = He will be a mix of Vince Young, Jamarcus Russell, and Mike Vick :rollseyes:

To be fair to Micheal Smith, the only comparison he was making was the hype of winning the NC and coming into the NFL. It wasn't a comparison of playing or look.