Interesting Note On Cam's Biggest Flaw Last Year, And How He Will Likely Fix it In 2012

[rayzor]

I don't care about the towel. That's part of his ritual, good play or bad.

What bothered me was when he would go into a shell. Can't remember the game, but a couple of times in the 2nd half, offensive linemen tried to help him up after a sack, and he just blew them off. You could tell he was pissed. When he gets like that, he does not play well.

He knows it and is certainly working on it. I am not worried in the least.

i don't see the towel being any different than a ball cap. agreed it's not a big deal.

the moping is what most had/have a problem with.

[panther4life]

Cams biggest flaws last year imo were.

1.Overthrows

2.Emotions running too high

17 picks for a rookie is not that bad. I am not going to go back and do the leg work to figure it out but id say at minimum 3 of those picks were not on him.

It would really help if someone could develop as a legit end zone threat as well too. Smiths a beast but he's not known for being a monster in the redzone like Megatron or Gronkowski.

I expect we will see major improvements from him in every facet of his game(Rivera has already stated he's better in every regard).

[JawnyBlaze]

What it seemed like at the games I saw in person. Maybe not for 3 quarters, but especially near the end when it mattered most. Our defense was what? Almost the worst defense as far as points given up last year? Mistakes were made on both sides, but I don't feel like less mistakes from Cam will help the defense as much as the other way around.

My curiosity has been piqued, I'm interested in exact numbers.

To the batcave to research quarters down! I'll be back.

[JawnyBlaze]

Ok, here's the final tally. To clarify, these numbers reflect the score after each quarter (cumulative with the quarters preceding them), not the scoring in the individual quarters.

Quarters ended with the lead: 29

Quarters ended losing: 30

Quarters ended with a tie: 5

Games leading going into the 4th: 7

Games leading after the first half: 8

I didn't bother including ties going into the 4th or after the first half.

Obviously with a team sub .500, having a roughly .500 quarters ended with a lead is disproportionate. The numbers for going into the 4th and after the first half obviously don't include wins like the Jags or Colts where we were losing or tied going into the 4th or after the half, so you can't just take 6 out of those numbers (our wins) and say that's the losses we should have held on to the lead in.

Bottom line, Alex Smith (and anyone with a similar opinion) was wrong. We weren't getting blown out and passing a lot because we were losing or trying to play catch up or anything. We were trying to nurse leads almost as much as we were trying to catch up.

[Marguide]

We were trying to nurse leads almost as much as we were trying to catch up.

Exactly. Chud was too conservative at times, especially in the 3rd qtr.

Good post.

[Cubaneagle]

Yes Cam has room for improvement. I agree that he throws off his back foot way too often even though it's gotten much better since college. He also does that jump pass when the pocket collapses that tends to get picked off...not sure why, he's tall enough to see over the line.

I think one thing that gets lost in all the stats and analysis is actually one of his strengths that I think D-Coordinators have and are figuring out. Cam is exceptional against the blitz...or at least better when defenses send more than 4 pass rushers. At Auburn he had a 100 pt better passing efficiency rating under a blitz with a 70% completion percentage and zero ints. In his rookie season only six NFL quarterbacks have attempted 25 or more passes when a defensive back is blitzing: Newton, Eli Manning, Michael Vick, Tony Romo, Sam Bradford and Jay Cutler. Newton owns both the highest completion rate (68 percent) among those quarterbacks in that situation and the highest NFL passer rating (137.5) as well (all these stats were taken straight from ESPN).

It makes sense his stats dipped later in season and later in games. Defenses early in the season wanted to send extra pass rushers to see if they could rattle him. Once they saw that didn't work...they played more a base read defense. Same with later in games when you are running a 2 minute O or playing from behind, you basically run a nickel, dime, prevent or base...hence not playing to his strength.

I think Cam will learn to pick apart zone D's the same way he can quickly react to a blitz...I just think that will take a little time.

[Chimera]

I agree with that summary.

Alot of our offense depended on man coverage.... atleast that's my memories. I think the team will be better at pulling coverage and hitting the openings as they progress.

[ShutDwn]

I really home Cam keeps the towel on the head this season. I really didn't have a problem when he was on the bench. He'll be more active on the bench the longer he is on the team. He was a rookie and people like to ignore that.

I think the league is in trouble if Cam realizes how much better he can make this team by becoming the leader on the field and off. People acted like he was ready to go coach the offense on the sideline when he had no offseason.

He wore a towel on his head because he likes Michael Jordan. It's also a common way to cool down. Jeez, sports journalism can turns into psychoanalytic crap so easily.

[MadHatter]

I really home Cam keeps the towel on the head this season. I really didn't have a problem when he was on the bench. He'll be more active on the bench the longer he is on the team. He was a rookie and people like to ignore that.

I think the league is in trouble if Cam realizes how much better he can make this team by becoming the leader on the field and off. People acted like he was ready to go coach the offense on the sideline when he had no offseason.

He wore a towel on his head because he likes Michael Jordan. It's also a common way to cool down. Jeez, sports journalism can turns into psychoanalytic crap so easily.

Did you actually listen to what Cam actually said about himself. He said that he DID get down on himself and sulk on the sideline when he made mistakes. That is something tha the recognizes as a weakness in himself.....why is it so damn hard for our idiot fans to understand the same thing.

Cam had a great season. But, he has teh skillset and drive to change the position. I am glad that he appears to be 10X smarter than most of the Nut Huggers on this board. If he wasn't, he woul think he arrived and has nothing to work on.

[Darth Biscuit]

Yes Cam has room for improvement. I agree that he throws off his back foot way too often even though it's gotten much better since college. He also does that jump pass when the pocket collapses that tends to get picked off...not sure why, he's tall enough to see over the line.

Someone learn me something please... I hear that term a lot... "throws off his back foot"... I'm assuming this is referring to not stepping into the throw, no? Because don't you generally throw off your back foot unless you're running?

[Chimera]

Someone learn me something please... I hear that term a lot... "throws off his back foot"... I'm assuming this is referring to not stepping into the throw, no? Because don't you generally throw off your back foot unless you're running?

[csx]

Legadu is gone now, and so are all of his drops, so his percentage will automatically go up this season.

/thread

Yes, all 3 of Naane's drops, if caught would have changed the entire course of the season.

[Darth Biscuit]

Whatever this is I can't see it...

[TruCatzFan]

Yes, all 3 of Naane's drops, if caught would have changed the entire course of the season.

You must be on drugs this am...

#1- without even looking up stats he had way more than 3 drops

#2- I suggest you take a look at his targets compared to his receptions...

Again, I haven't even looked at these myself, but even the most casual of Panthers fans know that he was garbage.