MMQB - TUESDAY - Newton representing major shift in NFL offenses

[Tarheels23]

Forgive me if this has already been posted.

1. His arm can make up for a lot of deficiencies. "His velocity is really good,'' Charles Woodson said Sunday, stating the obvious. Newton has thrown a couple of off-balance passes longer than 40 yards, including a 55-yarder from an awkward position under pressure against Green Bay. And it's not just the ability to throw from less than perfect positions and zip it. He's been zipping it with accuracy, as his 62.7 percent rate shows. That's terrific for a first-time pro, obviously. That's the kind of career accuracy Michael Vick would love to have.

2. He's been so well-traveled in recent years that this isn't a culture shock to him. Newton's gone from Urban Meyer's spread system at Florida in 2008 to a version of the Pistol offense at Blinn (Junior) College in Texas in 2009; in the Pistol, the quarterback stands about halfway back to where a passer would take a snap in the shotgun -- maybe four yards instead of the deeper seven -- giving him the ball faster and allowing him to make decisions quicker while still being able to analyze the defense before the snap. Then in 2010 it was on to the Auburn option offense, and now the pro style, versatile scheme of Rob Chudzinski (a big fan of throwing to the tight end and downfield). Four different worlds in four years. He's had to adjust to new offenses, new people, new cities. He's almost like a military brat, or a coach's kid, always moving. This helps him not only culturally but in learning a new system. He's had a major new system change every year for the last four.

3. Ron Rivera and Rob Chudzinski have made the learning manageable. Yes, as has been widely reported, Newton got a playbook in the one-day thaw on draft weekend, and was able to study the terminology and plays he'd be running in Carolina. He also spent time in Florida at a football camp with former pro quarterbacks Ken Dorsey and Chris Weinke, both familiar with the Chudzinski system. Dorsey played for Chudzinski when he was a Browns backup and Chudzinski was the coordinator.

But as much as that, Newton hasn't been overwhelmed by the learning process because the Panthers didn't teach him everything in the playbook. That will likely come next offseason. Rivera told me what they did was teach him a base number of plays and formations that will be the bedrock of what the Panthers do every week. And then they will teach and install another handful of plays each week that will be opponent-specific. Last week against Green Bay, Rivera said it was about 75 percent from the base package and 25 percent installed for the Packers. That's a smart way to do it, I think.

4. He's not abandoning the pocket like lots of talented athletic quarterbacks have done early in their career. Sometimes he probably should choose to run; I saw a couple of those Sunday against Green Bay. Knowing the right time to stay and when to go is something he'll learn in time. Chad Pennington, who did the color on the first Newton game, at Arizona, said Newton is determined to become a strong pocket quarterback.

"[Quarterback coach] Mike Shula has worked very hard with him on his pass drop, because obviously he was a shotgun quarterback most of the time in college,'' Pennington said. "He's very conscious of his footwork in the five- and seven-step drops. You can see how he wants to get it just right. And you could tell when we talked to him the day before the game how much it irks him to be thought of as a running quarterback. I could see it in his facial expression -- it bugs him that people would think he's not up to par on the mental side of the game, or will just start running as soon as anything goes wrong.''

5. Speaking of the mental side ... Fact is, Newton has been more Peyton Manning in the first two weeks than a nervous Nelly back there. "Look at the funky defense Arizona had in there on his touchdown to Steve Smith,'' said Pennington. "They're just walking around before the snap, clearly trying to confuse him about who'd be rushing and who'd drop in coverage. At the snap of the ball, there's not anybody in a three-point stance. Then at the snap, the backside safety comes toward the line, [cornerback] Patrick Peterson blitzes, and through the confusion, Smith runs by the safety and Cam ignores everything and throws him a perfect ball for a touchdown. For a rookie to know that, to process that, is pretty special.''

Newton will learn when not to challenge a baiting corner; I'm sure Monday and today he's run the two Charles Woodson interceptions from Sunday over and over in his head -- and on digital video in the Panthers' quarterback room. It's a learning process. The one thing we've seen so far is that Newton's a very quick study, which should take him a long way in the NFL.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/09/20/mail/index.html#ixzz1YXEuRm4H

[Mr. Scot]

I always hate when some writer says "the game is changing" as if they want to be the harbingers of that change. But it's especially silly when the sign they point to in order to show "the game is changing" is actually a classic Air Coryell attack.

[pstall]

I may need to go find the stat of the last few years of the # of passes vs the # of running plays in a game and the winning % of each.

Might surprise a few people.

[Miaoww]

I always hate when some writer says "the game is changing" as if they want to be the harbingers of that change. But it's especially silly when the sign they point to in order to show "the game is changing" is actually a classic Air Coryell attack.

Aye, but with the pathetic PI/5 yard contact rules we have these days the game is changing.

[Mr. Scot]

Aye, but with the pathetic PI/5 yard contact rules we have these days the game is changing.

Granted. That kind of change is deliberate though.

[Delhommey]

Classic idiot sports writer "Causation must equal causality" mistake with the "well traveled" remark. He uses the same reason (multiple coordinators/systems) for why Jason Campbell's so decidedly average.

[Tarheels23]

Classic idiot sports writer "Causation must equal causality" mistake with the "well traveled" remark. He uses the same reason (multiple coordinators/systems) for why Jason Campbell's so decidedly average.

Yep, and don't forget about Alex Smith.