NFLN made interesting point on Cam

[CRA]

Was watching last night and they made an interesting comment in regards to Cam Newton. In addition to the belief he should be the week 1 starter they gave this reasoning....

The NFL today is about spreading teams out....and if Carolina is willing to use 4 WR sets (could include Olsen) then it would be near impossible for a defense to defend Carolina without huge mismatches on the field. Most teams would look to defend those looks by going to nickel and dime w/ added DBs on the field........but if you do that then there is no way they can handle Cam taking off simply b/c they aren't going to win the battle.

Thoughts?

[CarolinaCatBrigade]

Cam Newton could score running backwards with his eyes closed while texting. He's just that damn good.

[GritsRgreat]

why not 5?

[CarolinaCatBrigade]

why not 5?

Would still need the extra back into block or provide another rushing threat. Would be more flexible to have a read option in place, or just a safety net.

[Ted Stryker]

I'd agree short term if teams have to spy him it opens things up. The thing is how he evolves in the pocket will determine his long term success. The more film of him that gets out the better defenses will get, see Mike Vick at the end of last year as an example.

[mercules20]

why not 5?

maybe so we'd have an extra blocker, no idea, but this is awesome. Our power running game is just going to make defenses decide which part of our offense to stop, if they put eight in the box now we're just gonna have cam throw a bomb to smitty, and i could see Cam running over some nickel back corners.

[CatMan72]

Point remains, if Carolina goes 4-wide are you going to put in a dime defense and pray Cam doesn't take off running?

[Frizzy350]

bingo. if you stack speedy dbs on the field to match our downfield threat then good luck with one of those 5-11 190 lbers tackling newton in most likely a one on one open field tackle. good luck guys!

[jtm]

Was watching last night and they made an interesting comment in regards to Cam Newton. In addition to the belief he should be the week 1 starter they gave this reasoning....

The NFL today is about spreading teams out....and if Carolina is willing to use 4 WR sets (could include Olsen) then it would be near impossible for a defense to defend Carolina without huge mismatches on the field. Most teams would look to defend those looks by going to nickel and dime w/ added DBs on the field........but if you do that then there is no way they can handle Cam taking off simply b/c they aren't going to win the battle.

Thoughts?

I agree and I think we saw and will continue to see in the preseason a very vanilla offense with Cam under center. I expect once the season starts to see players moving all around the place and Cam rolling out quite often in the red zone.

He isn't ready to be a drop back passer on every down. In the meantime (a la Vick), Rivera will likely use his strengths to get mismatches.

[Davidson Deac II]

This only works for Carolina if Cam can prove he is an effective passing threat. If he comes out throwing a lot of interceptions, then they will play defenses that invite him to pass and discourage him from running.

[CRA]

This only works for Carolina if Cam can prove he is an effective passing threat. If he comes out throwing a lot of interceptions, then they will play defenses that invite him to pass and discourage him from running.

I think the one think good about Cam is his deep ball is good and he is very willing to look for the throw. overall, despite his short to mid range accuracy and footwork issues to work on......the vertical threat I think will be there day 1 with Cam.

[CarolinaCatBrigade]

This only works for Carolina if Cam can prove he is an effective passing threat. If he comes out throwing a lot of interceptions, then they will play defenses that invite him to pass and discourage him from running.

From what I saw last game, it looks like he's a pass first QB. He didn't panic and try to run the ball. Which was very impressive. He kept his eyes down field and threw some beauties. Just need to step up in the redzone and work on footwork. But that shouldn't be a problem. Cam will be a very effective dual threat QB for us for many many years.

[Marguide]

I agree and I think we saw and will continue to see in the preseason a very vanilla offense with Cam under center. I expect once the season starts to see players moving all around the place and Cam rolling out quite often in the red zone.

He isn't ready to be a drop back passer on every down. In the meantime (a la Vick), Rivera will likely use his strengths to get mismatches.

Exactly. I think they are pushing him hard in camp to do things outside his comfort zone. Whenever he does start, I expect them to tailor plays to take advantage of what he is most comfortable with, i.e. lots of shotgun, etc.

The idea that they are having him work outside his comfort zone seems especially true in the red zone. He can be very dangerous on roll outs and read and run but we really haven't seen much of that.

[Jpjr]

This only works for Carolina if Cam can prove he is an effective passing threat. If he comes out throwing a lot of interceptions, then they will play defenses that invite him to pass and discourage him from running.

Yep. Some here makie some big assumptions, like Cam can pass accurately and running quarterbacks succeed in the NFL. The only reason Mike Vick is flourishing right now is because he taught himself how to throw a football in prison. Cam needs to be feared as a passer under pressure and that is something that has to be earned in the regular season.