What the Panthers Should Do With Cam Newton
Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
After another loss last Thursday at home to the Buccaneers and another underwhelming performance from the quarterback position, Cam Newton said he needed to look himself in the mirror and do some soul searching. While I think this would do Newton some good, I think it’s actually time for the Carolina Panthers franchise to do some soul searching of their own. The team has lost eight straight games going back to last season and have too much talent on the roster being wasted. Something has got to change very soon because the fanbase is beginning to lose their cool.
The quarterback is the single most important position in sports. And for a while, that position has been a problem in Charlotte. Does Cam Newton have tremendous talent? Sure, that’s why he was drafted so high and has done some great things in Carolina. Is Cam Newton executing? The simple answer is no. And when things are consistently not working, you must make changes. That’s where the Panthers are now. So, what should they do with Cam Newton going forward?
The extreme would be to give up on him and bench him, and the Panthers shouldn’t do that…at least not right now. However, Newton should be on a tight line right now and evaluated strictly after each performance. One problem that so many in this fanbase have is feeling that Cam Newton is untouchable, and he’s simply not. He’s not Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, etc. He never will be and should not be viewed as such. At this point, Newton should know that his future playing time will consist on how he performs week in and week out like many other quarterbacks in this game. The rest of the team and the fanbase deserves at least that. He’s just not the same quarterback he was several years ago.
Photo: Associated Press
Something else to take into consideration about Cam Newton moving forward is his health. Everyone knows about his surgically repaired shoulder and foot problems. Some people even predict Newton might be the next Andrew Luck, which I think is not out of the question. Whether his injuries are affecting him or not (he claims they are not), his performance has gone downhill. He doesn’t hardly run the ball anymore, which has greatly decimated his play on the field. Running the ball was what made him effective several years ago. This year he has attempted to run just a few times and is relying solely on his passing. Newton has never been a consistent pocket-passer. What we don’t know right now is why he is not running. Is it because of lingering injuries? Or is it because of the offensive game plan? What we do know is that if he is continually treated like a pocket-passer, he will continue to be underutilized and thus, undereffective.
Another problem with not utilizing Newton’s running strength is his horrible passing performances. He has been consistently missing his targets, especially in critical situations. He chalked up his first week’s passing performance to rust, but wasn’t any better this past week against Tampa Bay. Sure, he had over 300 yards passing, but if you look at his overall game statistics, it is very unimpressive. So, why is he missing so many of his receivers? Does it have anything to do with his shoulder issues? Does he just not have what it takes? If it’s because of injury issues, then this team has to look seriously at moving on to a healthy quarterback. If it’s not, then the Panthers should either change their game plan to include a running Cam Newton, evaluate him strictly from week to week and see if he improves, or move on to another quarterback. Simply put, you either have Newton run the ball a lot more if he can, or you put another quarterback in the game with more consistent throwing accuracy.
Like I said, something has to be figured out soon because this team has a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, yet still isn’t winning. The rest of the season should be a test for Cam Newton, as well as the coaching staff, to see if they are the answers going into next season or not. If Newton struggles for the remainder of this year, resulting from injuries or not, you have to move on, whether that is Will Grier or someone else. If Cam bounces back and has a nice season, then he should go into next season as the starting quarterback. Basically, the Panthers should make Cam Newton earn the starting quarterback role again (it’s his to lose). But Panther fans should know that his position is certainly losable. The franchise and its fanbase deserves better than what they’ve been putting up with lately.
Garett