I just watched Carolina Panthers rookie QB Cam Newton play better than many veteran quarterbacks in a losing effort against the Minnesota Vikings. I'd seen highlights of the phenomenal quarterback but until today hadn't watched him in a full game.
Well, I've seen and I'm a believer. Cam Newton simply is a leader on the field, commanding his troops like a general. His field presence is one of quiet calm and composure, ready to strike at any moment. That composure is also apparent when he's on the sideline, there's no panic or angry outbursts.
Cam reads defenses like a veteran, throws with a quick, crisp release and has running back skills in the open field. His composure in the pocket is so uncharacteristic of a rookie quarterback that you have to remind yourself it's his first season.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady comes to mind when comparing past young quarterbacks who immediately produced with command and composure. Mind you Brady rode the bench as a backup behind veteran QB Drew Bledsoe his rookie season, as well as a quarter of his second season.
The (2-6) Panthers are a young team going through growing pangs. They seem to have beaten themselves more than being dominated by any opponent. There may still be many football aficionados and analysts writing off any Panther's success this season, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone doubting the success and future potential of Cam Newton. Nobody!
Interesting, how after so much early criticism from mainstream sports media analysts about Cam Newton's pro football potential, those with enough cojones have completely retracted their critical predictions. Not often in sports do we see this type of media behavior where the so-called experts and not so expert bloggers in unison apologetically admit their mistake by singing the same lyrics:
I always find it gratifying when any athlete makes a sports analyst eat every morsel of the condemning words spoken or written about that player. And I must say Cam, with your stellar play at quarterback, you've served up a banquet to those who were wrong about you. And based on my google search, the "Haters" are still lining up to order the "I Was Wrong" blueplate special, a most filling meal indeed.
1) We were wrong about Cam Newton's start to 2011.
We are anti-rookie QBs for Fantasy Football as a default. We don't care who the rookie QB is. Rookie QBs can be solid, like Sam Bradford last year, or Andy Dalton (who we love) this year. Solid isn't what we want in Fantasy Football, we want video game type numbers from our Fantasy Football QB. Cam Newton is putting up video game type numbers. This is NOT an endorsement of Cam Newton. We still have our doubts on him being top-tier. However, it is an admission...he is not an NFL disaster rookie situation. He's going to hold his own, and then some. We are not seeking Newton for our rosters, but we are changing Fantasy Football scoring projections of team-defenses facing him upcoming. We are also going to upgrade Steve Smith and Greg Olsen higher than where we had them.
We thought Newton would be an early season/all season disaster...that was wrong, time to change projections accordingly.
