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NFL Carolina Panthers

Cam Newton Needs To Run For Carolina Panthers To Be Successful

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Cam Newton Panthers

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Carolina Panthers fans couldn’t be happier that there are no more primetime games remaining on the schedule in 2014. After last night’s 45-21 blowout at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina moves to 0-3 in night games this season, losing by 18 twice and 24 last night. Carolina quarterback Cam Newton struggled mightily once again, throwing three interceptions and taking nine sacks in the loss. For NFL fans who casually watch primetime games and not much else, they must think the Panthers are the worst team in the league. None of the three games were competitive at any point, and Newton looked like a shell of himself under the bright lights.

When Newton came into the NFL in 2011, the expectations were relatively unknown despite the fact that he was the No. 1 overall pick. In his only year at Auburn University, Newton was an absolute dual-threat superstar while he went on to take home the Heisman Trophy and the National Championship for the Tigers. The key words there being “dual-threat”, a term used lightly to describe a quarterback who is effective at both throwing and running the football. It is commonplace in the college game for dual-threat quarterbacks to be very successful.

While the trend is just getting started for the most part in the NFL, the jury is still out on how successful of an approach it can be. Dual-threat quarterback Russell Wilson won a Super Bowl last season with the Seattle Seahawks. Other dual-threat quarterbacks such as Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III and Newton are still trying to find their way in a league dominated by high-octane passing attacks. As much as NFL head coaches want to turn these guys into proficient pocket passers, that simply isn’t the way to get the best results out of them. This is clearly the case for Carolina and their quarterback Newton.

When Newton entered the league in 2011, he put together a rookie season unlike anything that had ever been seen. Not only did he throw for 4,051 yards completing 60 percent of his passes, he also rushed for 706 yards and an NFL-record 14 touchdowns. While the rushing statistics might not have surprised anyone who watched Newton play at Auburn, the passing statistics were certainly eye opening. His second season in the league saw his passing numbers decline while his rushing numbers stayed strong at 741 yards and eight touchdowns.

After two seasons in the NFL, Newton was on pace to become most proficient dual-threat quarterback in NFL history. Then the plague that all NFL head coaches with dual-threat quarterbacks seem to be infected with happened. There is a collective agreement that once a quarterback becomes proficient as a runner, that quarterback needs to refine his skills as a pocket passer and only run when absolutely necessary to avoid big hits and injuries. We have seen it with Kaepernick, Griffin, Wilson and Newton. While I agree that Newton and the other three need to refine their skills as pocket passers and improve each season, I don’t agree that they should be limited in their running ability, especially with Cam.

Unlike those other three dual-threat quarterbacks, Newton is a 6-foot-6, 250-pound wrecking ball with a low risk for significant injury. The reason Newton seems so banged up this season? All he does is sit back in the pocket behind a well below-average offensive line throwing to a mediocre group of receivers. What made Newton a superstar at Auburn and in his first couple years in the NFL was his ability to run the football both on designed plays as well as when the play breaks down. Fast forward to this season and all of a sudden the designed runs are gone, the scrambling has declined and Carolina doesn’t even consider using him as a runner in goal-line situations.

I understand that he still has a lot of improvement to do as a pocket passer and I believe that he will get there eventually, but his best attribute as a football player is running the football. It is incredibly poor coaching to turn a dual-threat quarterback into a one-dimensional pocket passer when their greatest asset is their dual-threat ability. Injuries are a part of the game and if they happen it is unfortunate, but it is time for head coach Ron Rivera to unleash the beast that is Cam Newton running the football. Because clearly what they are doing this season isn’t working at all.

Andrew Skaggs is a Carolina Panthers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RantSkaggs and add him on Google.

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