Cam Newton as a player

[JohnnyU]

jameis, dak, tyrod, and cam are all underrated

 

wentz, and mariota.. OVERRATED

[Jlowe22]

1 hour ago, iknowcool said:

Against a good Lions defense:

24/31, 335 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs

Clearly beaten down.

The good Cam is a top QB in this league, that is no doubt.  But you never know which Cam will show up.

[Zithers2]

So now that he's been practicing every day, Cam is 48/62 (77.4%) 666 yards (10.7 YPA) 6 TD 1 INT in his past two games. And throw in a rush TD. All without Greg Olsen and Ryan Kalil too.

[DingoLadd]

1 hour ago, Zithers2 said:

So now that he's been practicing every day, Cam is 48/62 (77.4%) 666 yards (10.7 YPA) 6 TD 1 INT in his past two games. And throw in a rush TD. All without Greg Olsen and Ryan Kalil too.

666 yards? Cam obviously made a deal with the devil to start playing well to silence the haters. Either that or his shoulder is finally healthy and the reps are making up for lost off-season time.

[Zithers2]

Satanist McCaffrey is aiding him as well.

Though I just double checked the math and it's 671. 

[CatalystNX]

Cam is streaky. When he's on, he's top-5 caliber. When he's off, it's not pretty. When he's somewhere in between, he's still top-15, IMO. That said, health should be taken into account here as well. I known there were a lot of people piling on after he had such a poor statistical start to this season, but it should be noted that he barely practiced in camp and threw just 2 passes in preseason prior to week 1.

On top of that, because of his shoulder still healing he wasn't even able to practice fully during the week until last week leading up to the game at New England. I don't think it's any coincidence that as soon as his shoulder started to fully heal and he was able to practice he put together his best two games in a long while back-to-back. Same is true of most of last season. Aside from playing behind an OL with just 1 starter from 2015 playing in position for most of the year due to injuries, he was never really completely healthy past week 4 or so. The last time he was healthy for anything resembling a full season was his MVP year.

We've seen already this season a good range of his play. From great to good to decent to bad. Obviously, I'm hoping the good/great play continues, but overall looking at the big picture, I'd say, on average, he's between top-8 & top-15 somewhere.

IMO - as objectively as I can be as a Panthers fan - I'd say you have to rank the following QB's ahead of Cam without question, save for the last one, which you could maybe debate based on very recent events. All have Super Bowl rings, but only Brady and Rodgers have won league MVP.

• Tom Brady
• Aaron Rodgers
• Drew Brees
• Ben Roethlisberger (though I'm starting to wonder about him, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt based on his career to this point)

After that, I'd say it gets very muddled. The following QB's could be ranked ahead of Cam, but Cam could also be ranked ahead of them depending on perspective. Personally, I think this is the tier Cam generally belongs in, but that is true of many of the league's starting QB's. All have shown to be capable of MVP-level - or at least near-MVP level - play at times, but not with the consistency of the QB's I listed above. Of this group, only Cam and Matt Ryan have won MVP, while only Russell Wilson and Joe Flacco have won a Super Bowl.

• Derek Carr
• Matt Ryan
• Jameis Winston
• Dak Prescott
• Carson Wentz
• Russell Wilson
• Kirk Cousins
• Andrew Luck
• Matthew Stafford
• Joe Flacco

The next list are QB's I think generally belong under Cam in rankings. This could be argued, however, as some aren't higher due to age (Manning, Rivers) or injury history (Bradford). Also, like I did with Big Ben in the top-tier, I'm putting Alex Smith here based on his overall career to this point and not just off the start to this season. I will admit he has played a lot better than I thought he would, but 5 games does not make a career. Obviously, only Eli Manning has won a Super Bowl in this group.

• Andy Dalton
• Alex Smith
• Tyrod Taylor
• Marcus Mariota
• Philip Rivers
• Ryan Tannehill
• Eli Manning
• Sam Bradford

The next list are QB's I think most anyone can agree Cam should be ranked ahead of. Bridgewater is included here due to injury and the unknowns that come with it. Carson Palmer is this low mostly due to age.

• Trevor Siemian
• Teddy Bridgewater
• Colin Kaepernick
• Jay Cutler
• Carson Palmer

More names Cam should be ranked higher than, but I didn't feel right putting them in with the names above as there seemed to be a pretty clear gap in overall skill level.

• Josh McCown
• Mike Glennon
• Blake Bortles
• Brian Hoyer

And finally, the unknowns; QB's I didn't rank due to not having enough of a body of work to judge. I considered putting Goff higher, but considering he was stuck in that Jeff Fisher offense as a rookie, I basically considered this year his rookie season.

• Jared Goff
• Deshaun Watson
• Deshone Kizer
• Patrick Mahomes

[CatalystNX]

True enough. I would agree that's what separates Cam (even at his best) from the truly elite QB's in the game.

[Zithers2]

I like how this thread died despite being in the front page right when he put up 350 yards and 3 TDs against what is considered a top tier team this season.

Watch this thing get bumped if he shows any remotely bad signs on TNF.

[lod01]

He's terrible. Mechanics are awful. Can't hit the broadside of a barn. No touch on passes. If he couldn't run, he wouldn't even be in the NFL.

[y*so*blu]

As a player, he's well above average. Fast and mobile. He doesn't wow me through the air. That's about it.

[Shady Slim]

like i said in the mccaffery thread cam using himself as a RB1 really hurts the actual quarterbacking, which is the aspect of his play he's already not great at

[RandyMossIsBoss]

He's just not a reliable QB since he is such a spotty passer. As far as passing goes, 2015 was clearly an aberration. Just look at the years immediately preceding and following it. That doesn't mean he cannot improve to the point that he really is as good as he looked during that season (although clock is ticking), but I certainly don't view him as an MVP caliber QB in a funk like I did with Rodgers. This is Cam. Big arm, fast, strong, but mediocre decision making and prone to simply missing (or perhaps more commonly, refusing to make) the easy throws. 

Top 15.

[Supersuavesky]

He's in the upper top fifteen.

 

Just not consistent. Cam shifts from being as accurate as a top three passer to being unable to make the easiest throws.

 

I don't blame him so much for yesterday's game though. Two of the INTs weren't on him and those are two scores Philly managed.

[DingoLadd]

5 hours ago, lod01 said:

He's terrible. Mechanics are awful. Can't hit the broadside of a barn. No touch on passes. If he couldn't run, he wouldn't even be in the NFL.

This is probably the worst post in this thread. 

[lod01]

On ‎10‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 10:35 PM, RandyMossIsBoss said:

He's just not a reliable QB since he is such a spotty passer. As far as passing goes, 2015 was clearly an aberration. Just look at the years immediately preceding and following it. That doesn't mean he cannot improve to the point that he really is as good as he looked during that season (although clock is ticking), but I certainly don't view him as an MVP caliber QB in a funk like I did with Rodgers. This is Cam. Big arm, fast, strong, but mediocre decision making and prone to simply missing (or perhaps more commonly, refusing to make) the easy throws. 

Top 15.

Another pathetic stinker put up by this overgrown terdlet.  The big year he had was against one of the softest schedules in history.  The NFC S that year all had easy schedules.