Rivera should hit the brakes on picking QB

[ncbobcat]

I don't see why there has to be excuses, or bashing, or anything.

Cam looked like a promising, developing, rookie QB this evening.

I think the fact that not everything that went wrong was his fault, should be encouraging, not a reason for people to act hostile.

I don't understand it either, but some here are shoutgun on the Cam bandwagon or have serious issues with Jimmy. Regardless, they are sticking with their man come hell or high water. I would love to see Cam light it up next week. There is a reality he may not. Both QBs may look horrible. To this point however Jimmy is ahead of Cam. Let me quantify this as not to hurt any feelings...not greatly, but still leading the QB battle. I can tell by the denials and begrudging nod to Clausen that any sort of acknowlegment of Jimmy's front running status P-A-I-N-S certain individuals. CIA interogation tatics would probably be more welcoming.

[mav1234]

If it's a true competition, it's Jim.

If it's what most of us expected, a lie, it's Cam.

WHOAH, does that mean Jimmy just won a QB competition in your eyes? I think this is a landmark event.:bigear:

[Ivan The Awesome]

Disagree, Cam at worst is not a liability and he's the QB of the future so you might as well let him play his way into the job.

The future eh? A guy that can't solidify the starter job over Clausen? Come on man.

Why does everyone dismiss Clausen as the "Future" QB? I mean he's not old, he's not 34.

Is it because Cam is the #1 pick? Is that it? I mean I've seen plenty of #1's amount to nothing.

Right now, Clausen has a slight edge on the starting job. Per my opinion. But in the end, it's Rivera's decision who to start.

I honestly don't have a preference who gets the job. I just want wins, whether it's Cam or Clausen. But I'm not going to shut myself from thinking the future QB can be on the roster already and his name won't be Cam Newton.

[stankowalski]

I think, like some others, that Jimmy should start the season and go from there. Yeah Jimmy did what he did tonight against 2nd and 3rd stringers, but guess what? He was playing with 2nd and 3rd stringers on his side.

Jimmy has looked better than Cam in what i've seen from both of them so far. There's no question that Cam has a higher ceiling, IMO, but he's not better now.

[teeray]

uhh how is he going to learn?

are you really asking that? do you actually think that young quarterbacks always learn from the person starting in front of them?

I guess we should fire Shula and just let our guys figure it out on their own...

also if andrew luck played like cam newton i'd say sit him until he fixed his footwork up a bit. he'll be great in time but that time is not now.

Here is the question I will pose to you MAV. Cam and Clausen have been pretty close to this point. Cam figures to be the worst he is going to ever be. He will likely improve during the season. Do you start him and try to speed up that process (because no matter what you do you don't really learn until you play) or sit him until the exact point Cam is better than Jimmy??

I think since they are so close and Cam's ceiling is so much higher you go ahead and pull the trigger.

If Jimmy was just blowing it up then I 100% agree to sit Cam but with it being so close don't you go ahead and pull the trigger? I don't see how you don't.

You are right Cam isn't 100% ready but Clausen didn't really do anything to win the competition tonight either. Go with the guy whose going to get you there and let him take his lumps.

[mav1234]

imo, jimmy's ceiling is lower than cam's. but i don't think jimmy has reached his. as far as pure passing goes, jimmy is hella far ahead of cam, but as far as leading an offense goes, the gap is much smaller. i personally fear that forcing cam into action too early might spill his cammy cam juice and i'd prefer we get his footwork fixed up a bit better. the same problems he has been having in camp appeared in this game, so while the announcers may be right that shula thinks he's better in games, I think it's clear cam needs more work before we stick him in.

[therealmjl]

What if, instead of Newton, we are talking about Andrew Luck. What if Luck was in Cam's shoes and posted identical....who would the huddle pick?

[teeray]

The future eh? A guy that can't solidify the starter job over Clausen? Come on man.

Why does everyone dismiss Clausen as the "Future" QB? I mean he's not old, he's not 34.

Mainly because we have $22 million guaranteed invested in him and he is playing just as well as Jimmy who is in his second year while Cam is only a rookie with no OTA's or mini camp.

[stankowalski]

What if, instead of Newton, we are talking about Andrew Luck. What if Luck was in Cam's shoes and posted identical....who would the huddle pick?

If it was the same I'd still go with Clausen.

Nuthuggery should be put aside.

[Mr ocho nueve]

What if, instead of Newton, we are talking about Andrew Luck. What if Luck was in Cam's shoes and posted identical....who would the huddle pick?

IT doesn't fugin mater, Luck is not on our team. Probably never will be. Stop worrying about Luck. He's old news.

[teeray]

imo, jimmy's ceiling is lower than cam's. but i don't think jimmy has reached his. as far as pure passing goes, jimmy is hella far ahead of cam, but as far as leading an offense goes, the gap is much smaller. i personally fear that forcing cam into action too early might spill his cammy cam juice and i'd prefer we get his footwork fixed up a bit better. the same problems he has been having in camp appeared in this game, so while the announcers may be right that shula thinks he's better in games, I think it's clear cam needs more work before we stick him in.

I can't tell if Jimmy is hella better than Cam passing the ball because he hasn't thrown it down field that much. I realize that he shouldn't if it isn't there, I am just saying out side of the pass that called back on the penalty he wasn't very impressive. Cam only had one truly terrible throw tonight. Granted it was terrible but you will see that from time to time from him. Some other throws were poor but the receiver wasn't open anyway so IMO they were throw aways essentially.

Cam wasn't great tonight by any means but I just don;t think the gap is big enough that you start Jimmy over Cam. That of course is just my opinion and thought process.

[mav1234]

Here is the question I will pose to you MAV. Cam and Clausen have been pretty close to this point. Cam figures to be the worst he is going to ever be. He will likely improve during the season. Do you start him and try to speed up that process (because no matter what you do you don't really learn until you play) or sit him until the exact point Cam is better than Jimmy??

I think since they are so close and Cam's ceiling is so much higher you go ahead and pull the trigger.

If Jimmy was just blowing it up then I 100% agree to sit Cam but with it being so close don't you go ahead and pull the trigger? I don't see how you don't.

You are right Cam isn't 100% ready but Clausen didn't really do anything to win the competition tonight either. Go with the guy whose going to get you there and let him take his lumps.

Jimmy's ceiling is lower than Cam's, but it's not like he has hit it. I don't think they are as close as you and some others think, either. I think the offense is actually more complete when Jimmy is in because he has grasped a bit more of it, but I may be reading too much into cam struggling the last week or so in practice.

I also think, as I've said a couple times now, that we could reinforce some of Cam's footwork flaws by throwing him into action now. We really need to squash his problems if we can. I suppose maybe at this point game time versus practice might not change it, but I personally feel that he has a lot to learn from Shula and Chuds and sitting will only help him there.

But frankly, I'd rather the better quarterback right now play opening day... and to me that is Jimmy. If he's as bad as many around here think, he'll struggle, and Cam will replace him a few weeks in. But in that time, Cam will have had a ton of time to work on what his problems are, while splitting practice reps with the first team with jimmy (perhaps not equally, depends how things are going). Maybe Jimmy will even surprise some of us.

I can't tell if Jimmy is hella better than Cam passing the ball because he hasn't thrown it down field that much. I realize that he shouldn't if it isn't there, I am just saying out side of the pass that called back on the penalty he wasn't very impressive.

I understand your thinking.

Frankly the throws Jimmy does make down field are pretty good most of the time, and tonight he was without any true downfield threats other than AE. In very limited time last week he seemed unafraid to go deep, and I personally think that he is going deep more in the preseason this year than he did last year. But without seeing coaches tape or being at the game it's hard totell if he wasn't finding the open receivers or if they just weren't getting open. (I think it was the later, but I admit I don't know for sure)

[footballisasport]

dude what are you even talking about... of course Manning had things to learn... I don't even know if you can find clips from Manning's rookie season on the internet but he looked pretty damn good. You can't compare how manning looked as a rookie to how cam looks now for a variety of reasons ... cam is coming from much further back... he will be fine, but he's no peyton manning (and he doesn't need to be to be a winner and a great player here). but just because cam is a rookie doesn't mean we have to act like he had a great game tonight. he wasn't good but it was a "teaching moment"

sam bradford wasn't going to start until their veteran went down with an injury...

if cam isn't ready, don't start him. don't force him into a game when he has the kind of problems he does with footwork. he needs a ton of practice to replace his bad habits.[/QUOTE]

First off, why are u assuming I'm a dude? Second, I never said Cam had a great game tonight but it seems with some of u, no matter how Cam plays u'll find something wrong with him to critize. That is my point.

The kid played like a rookie. All u can ask for is that he doesn't upchuck all over the field and give away any points. He didn't. He has to walk before he runs, remember. You folks keep preaching that he's no longer in college but the NFL but you behave like he should now be on the same level as the Pro QBs. Well, he has to learn even while he makes some mistakes. As long as those mistakes aren't costly until he can fix his shortcomings. And so far his mistakes have been kept to a minimum.

[antame]

Mainly because we have $22 million guaranteed invested in him and he is playing just as well as Jimmy who is in his second year while Cam is only a rookie with no OTA's or mini camp.

But he's not Andrew Luck!