Cam Newton

[Hunter2_1]

I do feel sorry for Carolina fans. Seem a really down-to-earth set of people, and loyal. Having to defend that circus act Newton must be pretty tiresome. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

2 minutes ago, Hunter2_1 said:

I do feel sorry for Carolina fans. Seem a really down-to-earth set of people, and loyal. Having to defend that circus act Newton must be pretty tiresome. 

Circus act? I'm not even a Panthers fan but I definitely wouldn't say he is a circus act. He seems to be a moody guy that goes through the emotions, but overall is a solid guy. 

 

[Hunter2_1]

3 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Circus act? I'm not even a Panthers fan but I definitely wouldn't say he is a circus act. He seems to be a moody guy that goes through the emotions, but overall is a solid guy. 

 

Really? I find the elaborate dances and showing off to be both insufferable and circus-like. I'd cheer for the TD, then immediately facepalm. Panther fans deserve better, IMHO.

[footbull3196]

1 hour ago, iknowcool said:

There are only 12 playoff teams in the entire NFL. There are only so many playoff teams a team can face.

I am not even disagreeing that they may not have been as good as the other 6 teams, but this idea that a 15-1 team that dominated in the NFC Championship game "wasn't even good" is the dumb. They were clearly a great team. You just don't luck into 15-1 and a Super Bowl appearance. 

 

This is true, but I never said they got lucky in the playoffs.  While they let Seattle get within a touchdown in the 2nd half of the divisional game, they still built that 31-0 lead, and the thrashing of the Cardinals cannot be ignored regardless of circumstance.  However, many people were doubting the Panthers going into the playoffs, and that was mainly because they had skated by on what amounted to a pretty easy schedule 

They were a very good team, don't get me wrong, but I think they were closer to the caliber of an 11-5/12-4 team than a 15-1 team

[indifference]

Bucs fan on the check in.

 

Newton may never be a consistently great passer but the Panthers could, at the very least, do a better job providing Cam with some help. They have revolving doors at tackles and receiving core is putrid. Benjamin and Funchess are just big bodies with size and suck at creating separation. I'd like to see what Cam would do if he had a supporting cast like the Cowboys. He'd be pretty damn good, I bet. So lets pump the breaks on trading the guy when he's literally carried their offense since he came into the league.

Edited September 25, 2017 by indifference

[Hunter2_1]

33 minutes ago, indifference said:

Bucs fan on the check in.

 

Newton may never be a consistently great passer but the Panthers could, at the very least, do a better job providing Cam with some help. They have revolving doors at tackles and receiving core is putrid. Benjamin and Funchess are just big bodies with size and suck at creating separation. I'd like to see what Cam would do if he had a supporting cast like the Cowboys. He'd be pretty damn good, I bet. So lets pump the breaks on trading the guy when he's literally carried their offense since he came into the league.

Olsen is good, and he's on record saying Benjamin is "his guy". Definitely needs an OL though, but then, half the league do.

[J-ALL-DAY]

1 hour ago, Hunter2_1 said:

Really? I find the elaborate dances and showing off to be both insufferable and circus-like. I'd cheer for the TD, then immediately facepalm. Panther fans deserve better, IMHO.

So he is a circus act because he celebrates too much? Okay then.

[Crickett]

39 minutes ago, indifference said:

Bucs fan on the check in.

 

Newton may never be a consistently great passer but the Panthers could, at the very least, do a better job providing Cam with some help. They have revolving doors at tackles and receiving core is putrid. Benjamin and Funchess are just big bodies with size and suck at creating separation. I'd like to see what Cam would do if he had a supporting cast like the Cowboys. He'd be pretty damn good, I bet. So lets pump the breaks on trading the guy when he's literally carried their offense since he came into the league.

They could have drafted Dede Westbrook to give Newton someone to take the top off of defense.  I even mocked them doing that.  But as I was told by a Panthers (IIRC), the Panthers weren't going to do that because they avoid 'low character players'.  Instead they went and drafted Curtis Samuel.  Now Samuel is super super fast, and maybe the Panthers though that was all they needed to replace Ted Ginn Jr., but it's not.  He wasn't a consistent 'catch the ball 50 yards down the field' vertical threat at Ohio State and that's not what he is for Carolina. 

Carolina could have resigned Ted Ginn Jr.  They didn't.

Carolina could have signed Kenny Stills.  They didn't.

Carolina could have signed Desean Jackson.  They didn't.

Carolina could have put forth a trade offer to get Sammy Watkins.  Maybe they did and we just don't know, but it seems unlikely. 

Carolina could have drafted John Ross round 1.  They were better off not doing that.  Ross was a huge reach at #9 and would have been that much bigger of a reach at #8. 

Carolina could have drafted Dede Westbrook round 3.  Before he got hurt, Jaguars fans can tell you he was basically carrying that offense for the first few weeks of the preseason. 

Carolina did none of those things.  So instead they don't have a vertical threat they can count on in an offense that depended on it to get to the Superbowl two years ago.  As critical as I am of Newton and as much as I don't think he can ever truly return to MVP form, I absolutely agree with you, the Panthers did not do enough to help him out this past offseason. 

[cddolphin]

23 minutes ago, Crickett said:

Carolina could have signed Kenny Stills.  They didn't.

Technically he didn't make it to FA.

[indifference]

50 minutes ago, Crickett said:

They could have drafted Dede Westbrook to give Newton someone to take the top off of defense.  I even mocked them doing that.  But as I was told by a Panthers (IIRC), the Panthers weren't going to do that because they avoid 'low character players'.  Instead they went and drafted Curtis Samuel.  Now Samuel is super super fast, and maybe the Panthers though that was all they needed to replace Ted Ginn Jr., but it's not.  He wasn't a consistent 'catch the ball 50 yards down the field' vertical threat at Ohio State and that's not what he is for Carolina. 

Carolina could have resigned Ted Ginn Jr.  They didn't.

Carolina could have signed Kenny Stills.  They didn't.

Carolina could have signed Desean Jackson.  They didn't.

Carolina could have put forth a trade offer to get Sammy Watkins.  Maybe they did and we just don't know, but it seems unlikely. 

Carolina could have drafted John Ross round 1.  They were better off not doing that.  Ross was a huge reach at #9 and would have been that much bigger of a reach at #8. 

Carolina could have drafted Dede Westbrook round 3.  Before he got hurt, Jaguars fans can tell you he was basically carrying that offense for the first few weeks of the preseason. 

Carolina did none of those things.  So instead they don't have a vertical threat they can count on in an offense that depended on it to get to the Superbowl two years ago.  As critical as I am of Newton and as much as I don't think he can ever truly return to MVP form, I absolutely agree with you, the Panthers did not do enough to help him out this past offseason. 

Carolina had no cap space to sign Stills or Jackson. Ginn is not reliable, and drafting Ross or Westbrook or any rookie in this years draft isn't going to make Cam much better. Ross has what 1 reception through 3 games. A blue chip WR prospect then yeah maybe. The Curtis Samuel pick was confusing to me as well, especially when you just reached for CMC at 8. That being said, it probably wasn't the best idea to draft a DT in the first round after Cam got molested in the SB by Von and company. Michael Thomas, Spriggs, or Shepard would be much of better help to Cam right now. But at the end of the day, its not my problem. I'm not a Panthers fan so I really could care less. Just giving my $0.02

His pass blocking has been masked by his pocket awareness and mobility. Now that they're asking him to stay in the pocket more, it's going to be long season.

Edited September 25, 2017 by indifference
spelling

[showtime]

Okay so now lets discuss why Cam Newton is not a consistently good passer.  I do not know the answer to this question, so I will pose it to you guys - Do you think Cam Newton truly dedicates himself to his craft the way Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, etc do?  What I mean by that is, those guys live at the facility.  They study like their lives depend on it.  They are obsessed with being the absolute best they can be.  Even though everyone in the NFL is a pro player, not all guys have the same drive.  I think most people reach a point, in whatever they do, where they become content and start to relax.  Very rarely do you have a person like Tom Brady who can accomplish so much, yet still have incredible drive to achieve even more.

I think I can recall Michael Vick saying something similar to this at some point - Where he got content and he did not work as hard or put in as much time as he could have.  I am seriously wondering if Cam Newton looked deep inside himself, could he honestly say he has given it all he has?  As someone who has no knowledge of Newton's work ethic, it's hard to believe that one of the most all-around gifted QB's to ever play in this game can still be this inconsistent over the course of his career if he is giving it 100% off the field.

[iknowcool]

Being an elite QB takes way more than physical traits. No matter how much Newton tries, he will never be as accurate as a guy like Brees. Accuracy is a skill. If it was all about hard work, then again guys like Tebow would have been better than they were.

[Kip Smithers]

2 hours ago, Hunter2_1 said:

Really? I find the elaborate dances and showing off to be both insufferable and circus-like. I'd cheer for the TD, then immediately facepalm. Panther fans deserve better, IMHO.

Lol

[showtime]

6 minutes ago, iknowcool said:

Being an elite QB takes way more than physical traits. No matter how much Newton tries, he will never be as accurate as a guy like Brees. Accuracy is a skill. If it was all about hard work, then again guys like Tebow would have been better than they were.

Accuracy can be improved over time, though.  When Drew Brees first entered the league, he was not very good.  In fact, the Chargers drafted Phillip Rivers, even though they had Drew Brees.  

Cam Newton's MVP season proves to me that he is a hell of a player.  There's no such thing as a 'fluke season', in my opinion.  However, there have been a lot of guys that reach a certain level of success and then become content.  I think that is much more likely what happened than 2015 being a 'fluke'.

[Carmen Cygni]

The only "arrogance" I see in Newton that actually hinders his game is his over-reliance on his arm strength. He gets away from proper throwing mechanics b/c he can strong arm the ball to just about anywhere on the field he wants. Problem is when he does that, it doesn't necessarily arrive accurately.

His mechanical errors come from relying on his upper body strength b/c he too often doesn't use his lower body (every pass begins with your feet) due to scrambling and not resetting his base. Also his release is similar to that of one throwing darts and doesn't follow thru and down across his body. 

I'm a firm believer that you are either an accurate passer or you are not. You can only improve your accuracy within your skill set. So while Newton will never be one of the one of the NFL's top passers in that category, he can still be effective within his ability if he focus' on proper footwork, motion, and release. All of which when he doesn't abide by, causes errant passes with his most common mishap being that he over throws his target.