Cam Newton

          I don't think I'm alone when I say I was very wary about Cam Newton's potential as an NFL quarterback. His stats in college were phenominal, he led two straight teams to national championships (his junior college the year prior to his undefeated year at Auburn), he won the Heisman trophy and he just didn't lose games.
          But there were his "character issues" that many were worried about. The incident at Florida where he was accused of stealing a laptop and the alleged "pay for play" scandal at Auburn are the two major issues that I recollect. Draft experts worried about his ability to adapt to a pro offense. He seemingly broke down when Jon Gruden analyzed him with all of the other top QB prospects and he couldn't call a typical NFL play. He was criticized for not being accurate enough, for running too much, and for just about anything else you could think of. To be honest, that level of criticism is well deserved if an organization is considering selecting you as the leader of their team and investing a very pretty penny in you. Jerry Richardson even famously asked Cam Newton if he had any tattoos. Cam's response was no, and Richardson told him he better keep it that way.
          Through it all, the Panthers did indeed select Cam Newton with the number one overall selection in the draft, and by doing so effectively put the entire organization on his shoulders and prayed that he could remove us from the basement of the NFL. With only four games left in the season, the Panthers sit third in the NFC South with a 4-8 record.
          But lets look back at the season so far. A seven point loss to the currently undefeated reigning Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers, a five point loss to the 7-5 Chicago Bears, a three point loss to the 9-3 New Orleans Saints, and a late meltdown in a shootout loss to the 7-5 Detroit Lions. If luck happened to swing our way in a couple of those games our record wouldn't look so bad. And I'll be the first one to say I'd rather watch this Panthers team lose a game the way they play, than the abysmal team that sported Jimmy Clausen at quarterback.
          Cam Newton threw for over 400 yards in his first two starts. He currently sits at 7th in the NFL with 3,297 passing yards. He's thrown 13 TDs, and he LEADS THE ENTIRE NFL with 13 rushing TDs. He broke the record for rushing TDs for a QB in a season on Sunday with four games still to play. AND he has Steve Smith looking like the incredible offensive weapon that he once was.
          Yes, he has made a lot of mistakes. 14 interceptions is not great (he threw all 14 of those interceptions in losses this year), and he tends to be high on a lot of his throws. But guess what, Peyton Manning (yes the great Peyton Manning) threw a whopping 28 interceptions in his rookie year. Rookies make mistakes, Cam is no different. He will learn with experience just like anyone else.
          Don't get me wrong, he's got a lot of room to grow. But his ceiling is very very high, and I am just warning the NFC South, and the rest of the NFL, that the Panthers are a team to watch out for in 2012. As far as Cam Newton is concerned, I'm definitely a believer, and I can't wait to see him reach his full potential.