panthers55

Obviously no one knows the future and injuries can turn things around in a hurry but both Martin and Orr have played left tackle at a high level and have been successful. I think that between the two of them they will get the job done. I have faith in our coaches to get the most out of our players. Look what Matsko did with Remmers and Norwell. Seems to me that he surely can do a good job with guys with starting experience in the NFL. So yeah as fixed as you can be in April.

Barring injuries I think the o line has been fixed. So I think that whoever runs the ball will have more success this year. As for drafting one high, I am with those posters that says it really depends on who is available when we pick. If a running back is truly the BPA and we can't approximate that pick somewhere down the line, then draft him. But dont draft someone for need at this point. With running backs being devalued and with so many still available in free agency, it would be stupid to draft one high unless he was a real game changer. Edit: autocorrect sucks sometimes.

I am excited Martin is here. With our locker room and with Rivera's support there is every reason to believe that Martin can return to his former level. What a no-brainer. Who gets a potential left or right starting NFL tackle off waivers unless there were issues. I don't think that football has to include bullying and intimidation. Particularly from your own guys. I hope he can contribute and fit in. A win- win for everyone. What is there not to like?

Sure you have to use something but the passer rating is really only one comprehensive stat but not always the best one. It uses elements such as touchdowns without accounting for the difference between teams that historically run in the redzone for example versus those who always throw the ball and dont have a power running game. Yet the quarterback that throws it to score will have a higher passer rating. As I noted earlier if one quarterback throws 15 screens, 2 dumpoff passes and 2 long passes versus another one that throws the whole route tree irrespective of system and personnel, which one will have a much higher completion percentage? I can understand using it for a list to get relative ranking but when comparing 2 quarterbacks or comparing Cam to others it seems rather lazy to rely on a stat that admittedly has significant flaws and doesnt account for the new wave of more athletic quarterbacks who can run as well as pass. And honestly that is a big part of his game.

On and on. One question? How fair is it to compare even contemporaries on passing ratings when they operate in different systems. Are we really going to compare completion rates for a QB in a short passing WCO where many throws are 5 yard dumpoffs to backs in the flat or simply slants and crossing patterns with a quarterback running a vertical passing attack emphasizing the deep ball and intermediate to long out routes for example.

I agree that I DG needs to sign Cam long term and pay him what he deserves. The guy the year before Cam was drafted made a ton more than Cam did and has done half as much. We really did get him for cheap which is why taking him was a no brainer. He was a tremendous athlete who wanted to learn and get better who was playing in a simple system. You aren't investing 100 million on.a guy who might be a beast or a bust, you are investing 22 and this year 14 more. A great return on your investment for five years of hard work by a quarterback who has had to carry the team on his back at times. There aren't 32 franchise quarterbacks in the league or everyone would have one. Cam is one and is only scratching his potential which make a continued investment in Newton mandatory. I think that anyone who disagrees and doesn't covet our guy must think that elite quarterbacks are a dime a dozen. As a panther fan who has experienced guys like Peete, Weinke, Carr, and Clausen, I was overjoyed when we drafted Cam who was the most physically gifted quarterback in our franchise history. And I am still optimistic given last year he showed his toughness and grit regardless of our record or his individual stats. He was not only a leader but he never quit and showed up healthy or hurt. You can coach heart and he showed that in spades.

You obviously have no clue about me or how I feel or you would know that I am very optimistic about this year like I am every off-season. I like the upgrades and am confident that the offense will be much improved. I think Cam will have a breakout season because unlike folks who make excuses for him, he actually doesn't. He will take what Rivera said to heart and work diligently to improve and justify the confidence that the team has in him and the huge amount of money they are going to invest in him. I can just see things from more than one perspective and dont see things in extremes as you obviously do.

I think that the line was pretty good in 2013 and struggled mightily in 2014. Nothing more or less. I have watched every game since 1995 with the exception of 2 so I think I know of what I speak. But no need to debate about ancient history, Like you said, he needs to improve and we need to upgrade the o line and his receivers. Hopefully we have already done that to some extent already and will continue in the draft. Because really all that matters is 2015 not rehashing old news.

Cherry pick much? So If I find 2 plays where they do fine, then do I win?? This is pretty weak even for you.

I love people who criticize others for personal attacks and equate that to losing and then do the same thing 3 sentences later. First of all fanboy is hardly a personal attack and your avatar and attitude show you came to this boy due to Cam which is what a fan boy is. Secondly if you make a personal attack which is more negative than you receive, does that make you the biggest loser?

PFF disagrees. We were top 10 in run and pass blocking. https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/13/2013-offensive-line-rankings/4/

That might float if he didn't have a pretty good Oline in 2013 and he was still inconsistent. No one denies that the Oline doesn't need upgrading but this wasn't just a 2014 issue but something that has been an issue for his whole career. He would be the first to admit that what Rivera said was true. Why blame all the issues on 2014. If this was a 1 year issue I doubt Rivera would have made an issue of it.

He gets criticism outside of the huddle that is true. But here every comment is vehemently attacked by all of his fan boys like you. If people could acknowledge what I am sure he would be the first to admit, then there wouldn't be this back and forth so much.

I forgot that many folks here don't understand basic football terms and need it spelled out for them. I will keep,that in mind in the future, So if he still is inconsistent when he is absolutely healthy at the end of the year then how much did the injuries and ankle surgery affect his mechanics earlier. Simple logic dictates that he acted the same healthy or not then that was not a major factor in his mechanics. Now talking about his mobility is another issue altogether.

Cam is already a good pocket passer at long as he stays patient and stays fundamentally sound. Of course the line had something to do with the pressure that he felt to the point he often felt phantom pressure and took off too soon. But that isn't an excuse for him not to continue to work on his fundamentals and keep evolving into the complete quarterback that we know he can .

Grow up dude. He has done the same thing whether he had Gross, Wharton, and Smitty out there or the bunch of JAGs last . Year. He would be the first to agree with Rivera. Largely because unlike you he is interested in getting better instead of making excuses and blaming everyone else.

Another overreaction. Saying he is lazy with his mechanics doesn't say he s lazy in his behavior or attitude. It is a football term meaning he is often doesn't follow through with each fundamental movement and often shortcuts his mechanics. That has nothing to do with his being injured or surgery. Let's be real here, it isn't as of this issue just started this past year. It has been a consistent issue since he came here. Why so defensive all the time?

I love how these threads quickly morph into counter attacks against Rivera and everyone's whipping boy, Shula , without acknowledging the elephant in the room. Newton is inconsistent and often lazy in his mechanics often relying on his athleticism. How many guys can even throw the ball 30 yards on a rope off his back foot? Feel free to criticize Rivera and Shula but that doesn't change that he is right on with his comments.

Lots of guys are worthy of a 1st or second round pick. If they are who we want and they will be gone before we pick again, then we should pick them up as the BPA on our list. I want another big strong guy with speed to stretch the field who will also give match-up problems to the corners in our division. Many have one great corner but not 2 great ones. One more homerun at WR in the draft and we have our guys set for the next decade as long as we can afford them on their next contract.

Again, we can look at everyone who was signed by other teams and make a case that we should have signed them or they were pretty cheap and therefore obtainable. Gettleman is looking at what he perceives are our needs and trying to fit pieces that meet a need and still are reasonable given that he is one of the few that has the big picture. You are not crazy in thinking he could have gone in a different direction or for stating your opinion. Nor is he wrong for not following your opinions and doing things as you think they should be done either. He has a much better idea of what he thinks our needs are and more importantly what he sees is the potential for many of the people on our roster or in the draft. For example he may think that Brown is a younger version or Johnson who he can develop this year into a good receiver. Why buy Jonson for 3 million when you have a receiver with the same potential already on your roster signed for cheap. Or he may think that since Dickson got significantly better as the season unfolded, there is no need to sign a guy like Housler. Again I understand that there are multiple ways to solve a problem. I am just not sure that your solution is better than his given he has information you don't and by most accounts is a very good judge of talent. And honestly which GM gives an exact blueprint of what he is going to do do that other teams can upstage him by signing our players first. Ginn is a serious upgrade over Bersin and a potential 3 or even sometimes 2 receiver with Cam throwing him the ball. He may not be anything but a returner for most teams but for us he was an integral part of the offense.

I think if you are very disappointed in free agency this year it has been because your expectations have been unreasonable not that Gettleman hasnt done what he said he was going to do. The only thing you can be upset about is that Jennings and Ball left without signing. And who is to say they wont still sign? Free agency has really got multiple layers to it and we aren't through the first one yet. There are still multiple receivers out there like Crabtree for example who are getting little attention and are supposedly waiting for the right deal like Jennings. Then after the draft there will be another blood letting and again during training camp. FWIW. I dont think Jennings is worth a big contract. At 32 he isnt a vertical threat anymore but rather another possession receiver who really isnt going to do that much for us that getting a first or second rounder in the draft wont do. We have already shown that we can develop rookies into good performers as we did with Benjamin and to a lesser degree Brown when he is healthy. The biggest areas of need were left tackle and returner and we covered that. Sure there are other areas we need for depth but we dont have all the holes we had last year with the development of all our rookies during 2014. So if you are disappointed it isn't Gettleman's fault so much as your own for expecting us to just change our philosophy from building through the draft and finding decent affordable guys in free agency. A philosophy that we have been using even before Gettleman got here. Dave is just better with the draft than Hurney was after the first round.

Yep. 4 quarterbacks drafted in the first round and only he is still in the league. Maybe Watt and Jones have been bigger stars but in terms of who has would have had the most impact would any of them meant more to us than Cam. I would rather see Cam throwing to Benjamin than I would have Clausen throwing to Jones or Watt making the defense even better but having a moribund offense whose point output increased dramatically once Cam took over. Cam is the best thing that has happened to the Panthers since Jake and Steve were tearing up the league. Everyone knows that including Gettleman. Look how long Eli was ordinary before he took them to the Super Bowl. But I am preaching to the choir. We agree...

Yeah when you see a quarterback throw a ball to nobody most times there is a disconnect between the receiver and quarterback. Most times it is the receiver. As for throwing an out pattern, this is an area where he has improved greatly in the past 4 seasons. Could he throw a good timing pattern at the combine? Not much. Can he throw one now? Much better than before. But watch him throw them, you will notice that he still struggles to throw them early. He relies on whipping them often late very hard to try and stop the defender from recovering and doing a pick six. Again one of those areas where he still learning and needing to improve. Look at Wilson and you will see that his timing routes are what he throws best because he doesn't have the arm strength that Cam does.

I wonder if they know that you could sign another team's franchise tagged player only if it was the nonexclusive variety. Otherwise if we socked the exclusive franchise tag on him then it wouldn't matter what they do. Plus given that Luke was a top 10 pick, giving up two ones is really not giving up that much really. One extra first rounder for him really, given we gave up a one to get him to begin with.

Actually it isnt the same. Cam had one of the steepest learning curves of any quarterback coming into the league. Plus he was severely behind guys like Wilson, Ryan and Luck coming out of college in terms of understanding the pro concepts. He overachieved his rookie year and everyone thought he was fine without realizing he still didn't really understand many of the basics of the game. If you think about the fact he only had 1 year of D1 ball coming out of college and even then the offense was simplified, going into his fifth year in the pros is really equivalent to what a guy like Luck knew at the end of his rookie year given he was in a pro offense for 4 years in college and would be way ahead of Cam. So no you are wrong, the he is still learning is not the same thing as every quarterback. Cam still is learning the basics like consistent mechanics, throwing to spots and reading defenses. Things that many of the other quarterbacks have mastered. The fact that Cam has done so well and overachieved makes it appear that he is on the same footing at other guys in terms of football knowledge but he is still playing a catch up game. People thought he would need 2 years to simply be a starter. The fact that he has done so well is a testament to his hard work and the fact he picks things up quickly. But to translate that to doing it automatically and effortlessly takes time and repetition. Things he is still learning to do and is behind many other guys who had a pro offense for years in college.