The OFFICIAL draft Cam Newton Thread!!!

[AdamD13]

Dude...seriously?

Did you miss the entire point of my post? My post wasn't made to slam Newton's ability because he certainly has it. What I was pointing out is how Cam goes about getting done what he gets done. He knows the play call, knows where he wants to throw the football, ball is snapped, he immediately locks on to that receiver and throws the football. If that receiver isn't open he will generally tuck it and run. He's very good at this.

Different ball game in the NFL. Doesn't work that way with the big boys. So there's a lot that he's going to have to change, adjust and adapt to. And that goes back to the ability to learn at the next level.

I just found it a little absurd to knock a guy who completes 80% of his passes (12 of 15) and the one that was intercepted went right through the WRs arms which would have put his completion percentage to 86.7%. When a QB is able to see that his primary WR is open and gets the ball to him right away it tells me he is able to read defenses. I don't know how many times I have seen Henne see the primary WR open and hold the ball too long. By the time he throws it the defense is able to defend the pass.

Will there be some growing pains? Of course. What QB with one year of starting experience has already mastered the game coming in to the NFL? NONE. What QB with four years starting experience has already mastered the game coming in to the NFL? NONE.

How many QBs have ever been more physically talented than Cam Newton? Few, if any. That he was able to lead a team that no one picked to win the SEC let alone the National Championship, go undefeated, come from behind on several occasions, including being down 24-0 to Alabama, have a 30/7 TD/Int ratio, have a 182 QB rating (2nd behind Moore's 182.6) tells me he has a little more intelligence and understanding of the game than a lot of people are giving him credit for.

The idea that he is not going to make plays running the ball in the NFL is way off. Will he make a living of it? Probably not. Will he make plenty of plays with his feet? Absolutely. That ability will help him and the team tremendously as he learns and grows while getting experience on the field of play.

What is our other choice? Chad Henne...I would say Newton is already a better QB than Henne. Really, what is to lose? Not much. Newton has a chance to be a franchise QB. Chad Henne sure as heck isn't.

 

[Buff]

After viewing that youtube clip, tell me why we shouldnt draft this kid if he falls to us?
Rocket arm, fast feet, quick decision making, great touch pass. Am I missing something?
Who says he can't read defences? His stats were pretty impressive, as is his win/loss ratio against very good opposition.

 

[JCane]

When a QB is able to see that his primary WR is open and gets the ball to him right away it tells me he is able to read defenses.

Really?

That's the system working. Malhzan's system works. It always has. His system makes QB's and WR's unstoppable. 99% of the time they're open. That's why Cam locks onto his receivers as soon as the ball is snapped. It has little to do with him reading defenses. The majority of reading defenses is done pre-snap anyway.

When did I bring up Cam's size lol? I've said time and time again that Cam is very physically gifted and has all of the physical tools he needs at the next level. And I never said that he wouldn't make plays with his feet either because he will. He's going to have to. But he's not going to run all over defenses in the NFL they way he does in college. The same thing was said about Vince Young coming out of college. And there have been times when Vince makes plays with his feet but he's not beating anyone in the league with his feet. The league is too good for that. You want to make some plays with your feet or do you want to win a Super Bowl? Running QB's aren't winning Super Bowls...look around. Mike Vick is the greatest running QB in the history of the league and he's not winning anyone a Super Bowl.

It's not about what is to lose...it's about what is to gain. Henne is terrible. No question. So obviously we'd improve with Cam Newton, but I don't think we improve to the point that we can go out and beat the top teams in the league in the playoffs and that is where we need to be.

 

[finintheburgh]

This whole "Cam is going to have to learn complex NFL systems" is a bunch of crap. Dan Marino wasn't exactly Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein in college, and he didn't do great on the Wonderlic, but he could flat out play....there is a big difference between football smarts and college smarts.

Cam Newton is 6'6" and 250+ and very fast and tough to bring down. If he is there at #15, I would take him. I think we could end up drafting two QB's to back up Henne, or we draft one and bring in a vet. I would rather take a chance on a guy like Cam Newton with a lot of upside potential over stiffs like Locker and Mallet.

its not good when the first thing you say abouta qb is that hes "6'6" and 250+ and very fast and tough to bring down" were not talking about a wr or rb were talking about the guy whose supposed to win with his arm

 

[fins_rock]

I'm all for picking a QB, but I don't think this guy is what we need. He's not very good at reading defenses and he's not going to outrun anybody in the NFL, except maybe Channing Crowder..Lol. He was on a great team at Auburn which made him look a lot better than he really is. I think Ireland and Sparano will try to trade down to get the 2nd rd pick back (Safe move), but if they can't do that they will make the safe pick. OL, LB, DL, DB. They will approach the draft like they approach the games, play not to lose and don't take any risks on a QB or skill position.

If they pick a QB, then they just signed their walking papers because if he doesn't work out they're fired, Sparano is anyway. This management team doesn't have the guts to pull the trigger on a QB in Rd 1, and without a good QB Sparano will get canned after next year anyway. We'll see..

 

[j-off-her-doll]

Never said it was Newton's fault. And I don't think it was Newton's fault. The only thing I was pointing out was that Cam had to make an extra read. And he's not accustomed to that. That's all I was pointing out. That was a very catchable ball.

If you didn't mean to communicate that it was his fault, your written communication skills are sub-par. Later in your post, you said of a throw that it was the first throw on the video where he went beyond his first read.

I'm not saying you don't watch a lot of college football, but your analysis "needs work."

 

[ckparrothead]

the camera shows him looking outside comes off of it and throws a catchable ball inside middle to #80 (not a check down option) and the ball should have been caught...how do you bang newton for that play??? he went from his initial read to his secondary and threw a good ball that the wr flipped up in the air...

It's pretty simple. If your aim is to bang Newton for every little thing BEFORE you watch the tape, then it's easy to invent things to criticize out of thin air.

 

[ckparrothead]

Toothless? Did he or did he not play in a high school offense?

Simple answer: Yes or No?

No.

 

[ckparrothead]

Never said it was Newton's fault. And I don't think it was Newton's fault. The only thing I was pointing out was that Cam had to make an extra read. And he's not accustomed to that. That's all I was pointing out. That was a very catchable ball.

You know exactly what you were doing. And so does everyone else.

 

[Austin Tatious]

I think he would bring leadership, a sense of purpose to the huddle, mental toughness, and attitude to the offense. These are all things Miami desperately needs.

Its lazy to just compare him to Akili Smith, JaMarcus Russell and Vince Young. Russell, are you kidding me? Other than them both being tall and black, what on earth do they have in common? Akili? Please. Was Aaron Rodgers compared with Cade McNown just because they were both white quarterbacks from the Pac 10? Of course not.

VY actually has some talent, but his problems are largely in terms of attitude, mental toughness and other intangibles. Newton has leadership and other intangibles that are so much better than VY that its not even funny.

To be fair, maybe I was guilty of certain assumptions about him, but the more you look, the better I feel about him.

I have been pleasantly surprised from my views that he has a quick arm, the ball seems to get out. I thought he anticipated pretty well. His arm looks solid in terms of making the throws.

What I don't know are (a) how he will interview, (b) does he do the film study and does he have the mental work ethic (we all know about his physical work ethic), and (c) how is his character; the laptop and money issues are indeed red flags. If he can learn and grow from these things and if he is willing to do the film work, I think he can be a really good quarterback in the National Football League. I know I can be wrong. Quarterback is a scary position to evaluate. Disclaimer, I liked Todd Blackledge over Marino as a little kid, haha (but that was based on hype). Even if Miami is wrong on Cam, its a risk/reward ratio I would be willing to take.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

The comparisons with Akili Smith are valid... they were both 1 year starters who had a cannon for an arm and incredible scrambling ability. Go watch some film of Akili Smith at Oregon and then ask the question "Why shouldn't Cincinnati have taken this guy at #3"?

The comparisons to Daunte Culpepper are valid, except Culpepper was much more experienced. They were both 6'4"-6'5", 255 pounds with speed in the 4.5 range. Culpepper was as "accurate" as a college quarterback can get.. he set the NCAA record for completion percentage... but couldn't read a defense in the NFL to save his life. After he suffered the devastating knee injury, and was FORCED to use his head instead of his legs to make plays, he was done. (Actually he was done before he suffered the injury). Cam Newton doesn't read defenses in college...

Cam Newton never turns his back to the defense operating out of Guz Malzahn's offense... he knows where the football is going. JCane is right about one thing, Malzahn's system works.


Chris Todd completed 60.4% of his passes for over 2,600 yards, threw 22 TD's and only 6 INT's in his ONLY season in Malzahn's offense before Cam Newton was an Auburn Tiger...

Cam Newton's passing improved as the year went on, but it's not as if he was required to assert himself from an NFL quarterback "work ethic" standpoint. All he did was learn how to execute Malzahn's read option after the first few games, and that's when Auburn's offense took flight.


None of this says Cam Newton is going to succeed or fail, but the comparisons go far beyond they're all "big and black" quarterbacks.

 

[Austin Tatious]

Slimm, to be fair, i may be merging Akili the NFL player from the college kid in my memory banks. What I remember of Akili is a guy that had no idea where to throw the football, who just stood there like a deer in headlights until Jason Taylor was on top of him. He just patted it and had no clue where to go. But isn't that a huge function of film study? Maybe he couldn't process it, but I gotta believe work ethic would have helped him. Also, Akili was not the overwhelming physical presence and athlete that Cam is. C-pep is as you pointed out.

Now I think we are 100% in agreement on the film study/work ethic issue, and this is something we are not privy to. Does Newton have the work ethic to figure it all out? And if C-pep (healthy) is his upside, he would be worth the risk. Its not like we are using the number one overall pick on him. There are risks for sure. I mean, its early in the process, but I am getting more and more intrigued. I want to see more and more breakdowns of him. One thing you have to watch in evaluation, falling in love with a player and then seeing what you want to see. Gotta be detached and analytical.

 

[Austin Tatious]

I will say this, Slimm. You know a helluva lot more than I do about evaluation. But if your point of view is a perspective shared by many of the professionals, there is a chance Cam makes it to 15. Because if he were a no-brainer, he would be gone super early, and there would be nothing to discuss.

I'm thinking there is a good chance that Harbaugh or Shanahan or Frazier/Spielman take him ahead of Miami.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Slimm, to be fair, i may be merging Akili the NFL player from the college kid in my memory banks. What I remember of Akili is a guy that had no idea where to throw the football, who just stood there like a deer in headlights until Jason Taylor was on top of him. He just patted it and had no clue where to go. But isn't that a huge function of film study? Maybe he couldn't process it, but I gotta believe work ethic would have helped him. Also, Akili was not the overwhelming physical presence and athlete that Cam is. C-pep is as you pointed out.

Now I think we are 100% in agreement, and something we are not privy to. Does Newton have the work ethic to figure it all out? And if C-pep (healthy) is his upside, he would be worth the risk. Its not like we are using the number one overall pick on him. There are risks for sure. I mean, its early in the process, but I am getting more and more intrigued. I want to see more and more breakdowns of him. One thing you have to watch in evaluation, falling in love with a player and then seeing what you want to see. Gotta be detached and analytical.

What Akili Smith looked like in Cincinnati as a rookie is irrelevant.... Cam Newton could look like that as a rookie too.. You have to go look at Akili Smith as a college prospect coming out of Oregon and figure out why the Bengals shouldn't have taken him in the top 5 of the draft.

Akili Smith was as physically gifted as any QB prospect of the past 20 years, you're not going to find anything on his Oregon film that slaps you in the face and leaves a "bust" imprint on your cheeks. This kid was extremely talented...

The reason they shouldn't have taken him in the top 5 is because he only had 1 season of starting experience at the D-1 level..

Auburn's offensive line was one of the best in the country this year... they are the main reason Auburn went undefeated. Full of Seniors all the way across except for Brandon Mosley (junior)... and they're all NFL prospects.

Cam Newton is going to have to make decisions a lot faster in the NFL... his decision making process is dreadfully slow on a regular basis if he's not throwing quick screen passes.

I can't believe people don't see this stuff.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

I don't think I know more than anybody else... and especially when it comes to Cam Newton.

As I've said many times, I struggle with Cam more than I have any quarterback I can remember.

Noone can question Cam Newton's physical talent... but that's not what makes an NFL quarterback... there are things that concern me reguarding Cam Newton and playing quarterback in the NFL at a high level.