Going into the draft, the "experts" were saying that there are three can't miss standouts in this draft and Cam Newton wasn't one of them. Those standouts were Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus (3 - Buffalo), Georgia wide reciever AJ Green (4 - Cincinnati) and LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson (5 - Arizona). Not only are they all much safer picks, the Panthers need players at all three of those positions.
The Panthers defense was absolutely terrible last season. They struggled all season to fill the void left by Julius Peppers and have still yet to fill it. Dareus could've been a huge part of filling that void. Considering the Panthers play in the quarterback heavy NFC South (Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, and Josh Freeman), they could always use a shutdown corner, which they don't have. With all of the new rule changes favoring the passing game, that also puts a whole new emphasis on pass rushers and secondary. The Panthers could've also used a wide reciever the caliber of AJ Green. Word on the street is that Steve Smith, who is already a star reciever in the NFL for the Panthers, wants a trade out of Carolina and has already cleared out his locker. That leaves the Panthers with a TERRIBLE recieving corps, considering Smith was the only good (and he was great) reciever on their roster.
Last season, the Panthers did not have a first round pick. Their first pick was 48th overall and took place during the second round. With that pick, they chose Jimmy Clausen, who played quarterback at Notre Dame. They also drafted Cincinnati's quarterback, Tony Pike, in the sixth round of the same draft. As of this second, here is what the Panthers roster of quarterbacks looks like (in alphabetical order): Clausen (23 years old), Matt Moore (26), Cam Newton (21), Keith Null (25), Pike (25), Brian St. Pierre (31). St. Pierre is easily the oldest quarterback on the Carolina roster and barring some serious injuries, he isn't even going to given a chance on the field. That leaves the Panthers with a ton of young quaterback and no veteran leadership. That's one reason the pick of Cam Newton is so unbelievably stupid. That's like handing your car keys to your 15 year old son/daughter, who just got their drivers permit, and letting them drive without an adult.
The big thing about that that gets me is that Ron Rivera (new Panthers head coach) has already acknowledged that Jimmy Clausen didn't have a chance of succeeding last season. With all of that said, they still completely gave up on him and drafted Cam Newton anyways. I'm not competely sold on Clausen either, but I atleast want to see him in a situation where he atleast has an opportunity to succeed before I completely give up on him. He wasn't given that last season and had a horrible season. If nothing else, Clausen can keep the seat warm while the Panthers fill some holes around him. He's good enough to do that and can make some plays if given the opportunity. He just needs to be given one first.
Now, let's talk about Cam Newton and his "red flags". I seriously question his character. In November of 2008, while still at the University of Florida, he was arrested for allegedly stealing the laptop of another student. After completing a court-approved pretrial diversion program, the charges against Newton were dropped, but the laptop was found to be in his possession. He left the University of Florida prior to the spring 2009 semester in order to avoid a suspension or possibly expulsion for academic cheating.
The thing that really scares is the fact that he left the University of Florida rather than facing the consequences of his actions. If you knowingly do something wrong, which Newton did, you need to be man enough to face the consequences if you get caught. He did not, he chose to run. That makes me wonder what he is going to do in Carolina when the going gets tough, and it's going to get tough. Is he going to buckle down and work harder or is his going to flee? The past tells that when the going gets tough, Cam Newton gets running.
After leaving Florida, Newton enrolled at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas. In one season there, Newton led Blinn to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national football championship. That really isn't surprising though that a five-star division one recruit dominated while playing at a junior college.
After his one season at Blinn, Newton enrolled at Auburn. In his first (and only) season at Auburn, Cam Newton had a dominant season. He led the Tigers to a 14-0 record and a BCS National Championship. Along the way, he dominated individually and took home the Davey O'Brien award (for the nations top QB) and the 2010 Heisman Trophy. Here are Newton's individual statistics for the 2010 NCAA football season:
Completion Percentage: 66.1 (185-280)
Passing Yards: 2854
Yards per Game (pass): 203.9
Touchdowns (pass): 30
Interceptions: 7
Sacks: 23 (for 152 yards lost)
Rushing attempts: 264
Rushing Yards: 1284 (Auburn's leading rusher)
Yards per Game (rush): 91.7
Touchdowns (rush): 20
On a quick side note, that is a lot of sacks. I appreciate the fact that he is moving around trying to make something happen, but that is something that needs to change in the NFL. He needs to learn to be smarter with the ball and protect field position. Taking 23 sacks is not doing that. He can get away with it at Auburn, where they are better than many of their opponents to begin with, but he won't have that luxury in the NFL.
Newton is a big, strong, powerful kid. He was able to run over and through guys at Auburn. He won't be doing that in the NFL, I can promise that. Defenders are much bigger and faster and stronger than they are in college. If Cam is going to be the franchise guy for the Panthers, I don't want him out there trying to run through guys and taking huge hits. If he is that guy, I want him healthy and on the field. He won't be if though if the thinks he's going to run through guys like he did in college. He needs to learn to slide and protect the ball. Huge hits lead to fumbles. Fumbles lead to points. Points lead to losses and the Panthers don't need any more of those.
During his time at Auburn, Newton still couldn't avoid controversy. According to Mississippi State (MSU), they were approached by Cecil Newton (Cam's father) wanting a payment for Cam's services. Apparently Cecil told the people at MSU that "it would take more than just a scholarship" for his son to play at MSU. Cecil was apparently asking for somewhere between $100,000 and $180,000. After an NCAA invesigation, due to insufficient evidence, they ruled that Cam Newton was eligible to play. As part of that ruling, they stated that Cecil Newton acted along and neither Cam nor the University of Auburn had any knowledge of his actions.
It's bad to say, but I've never believed a second of that story. I didn't when it happen and I don't now that he is a member of the Carolina Panthers. I think that whole mess was a very well thought out plan by the Newton camp. Even though Cam may not have had any direct involvement in the mess, I have a very hard time believing that he had no knowledge it was going on. I think they set it up so that he wouldn't be tied to it if they got caught, which they did.
The other thing that really scares me about Cam Newton was the offense he ran at Auburn. The offense he ran was an overly simple version of the spread offense. I can't officially confirm this, but I've read several places that Auburn made their offense overly simple so that Cam Newton could run it. I don't want a guy on my roster that needs his college offense (which isn't a pro style offense) dumbed down so that he could run it. When ESPN's Jon Gruden asked Newton to tell him what an Auburn play sounded like and Newton couldn't come up with an answer. Newton said it himself in that last video clip, a typical Auburn play was just a number. They ran a quick offense with very little huddling, so Newton has very little experience calling plays in a huddle. Newton also worked mostly out of the shotgun formation so taking snaps under center will be new to him, much like it was last year for Tim Tebow. Those two factors are second nature to NFL quarterbacks and it scares me that Newton hasn't done it.
Jimmy Clausen ran a pro style offense at Notre Dame under Charlie Weis and has had no problems adjusting to play calling in the NFL. He is also comfortable taking snaps under center, which Newton is not. Clausen was much more ready coming out of college than Newton is now.
Also, Newton has only played one season in Division-One NCAA football. Yes he was a backup for a season at Florida (behind Tebow), but he didn't play. I could care less what he did at Blinn College because he wasn't playing top talent every single game. Yes he played well in his one season as a starter at Auburn but I want to see him do it again so that I know that he can do it again. That lack of experience again scares the crap out of me.
I've also seen some reports where Cam's work ethic has been questioned. I don't care how high his upside is, he'll never get there if he's lazy. Look at former number one overall pick JaMarcus Russell. If there are any questions at all about his work ethic...avoid, avoid, avoid. You don't want to place the fate of your franchise in the hands of a lazy player.
During the interview portion of the combine, Newton presented himself very well. This does not surprise me. He knew his issues coming in so he knew the questions that were going to be asked. He got coached very well leading up to this portion of the combine and it showed. However it's just like any speech class a person will ever take. The more you practice, the better the delivery will be every time you deliver the speech. That's really all this was, I don't care what anybody says.
When you add this whole thing up, Newton has way too many more question marks than positives. The Panthers had the first pick in the entire draft so they could've picked anybody they wanted. They took their chances on Newton, who has a huge upside but is also a work in progress. There were much safer picks out there that would've solved more glaring problems for the Panthers. Yes they probably do need a quarterback, but they need a lot of other things as well.
To make a long story short, I think the Panthers made a huge mistake taking Cam Newton with the first overall pick of the draft. Even though Ron Rivera has yet to even coach a game for the Panthers, I'm already calling for his head. Him and General Manager Marty Hurney just set this franchise back 5-10 years with this pick. Instead of filling a need, they just created another question mark. If the Panthers do not win 5 games next season, I want Rivera and Hurney to both lose their jobs. They screwed this whole thing up so badly that it isn't even funny. Well, I suppose it probably is funny if you aren't a Panthers fan. Either way, the Panthers just got sCAMmed by Cam.
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