Cam Newton has won is the 2011 offensive rookie of the year for the Associated Press.Newton got 47 of the 50 votes with Andy Dalton of the Bengals getting another three.

For most of the season it seemed like Newton and Daltonwere neck and neck for offensive rookie of the year. But Cam Newton won the offensive rookie of the year because he set numerous NFL records.  In most other years Andy Dalton would have won the award but Cam Newton clearly outplayed him.

Cam Newton passed for over 4,000 yards and rushed for over 500. In addition he scored 14 rushing touchdowns. Newton did have some turnover issues but most rookie quarterbacks do. Cam Newton played with poise for most of the season and set the bar for all rookie quarterbacks coming into the NFL now.

Since many Carolina Panthers fans wanted Andrew Luck we were devastated when he went back to college for another year. But clearly we owe Luck a debt of gratitude for giving us Cam Newton.

Considering that Cam Newton didn’t have the benefit of much offseason work with the Carolina Panthers due to the NFL lockout, his rookie season was even more remarkable. If Cam applies that same work ethic for his entire career we have a special quarterback indeed.

The Carolina Panthers should try to resign Cam Newton to a longer contract right now. Yes Cam Newton has three years left on his rookie contract but the Panthers need to start now in talks with him.

Cam Newton didn’t get the huge money that Sam Bradford and other rookie quarterbacks did. Due to the new rookie salary cap Newton didn’t get the big payday. But since Cam Newton has such a successful rookie season, Panthers fans already are scared that Cam Newton will leave the Panthers when his contract runs out.

I think Cam Newton will end his career as a Carolina Panther and here are the reasons why.Charlotte is very media friendly to Cam Newton and he will have his bad days. Quarterbacks get a lot of grief from the media in some markets.

Cam Newton can get all the commercial deals he wants right there in Charlotte. He does not have to be in New Yorkor some other huge city to get endorsements. With all the banking in Charlotte there will be numerous business deals in the area for Cam Newton.

The fact that Cam Newton leaving Charlotte is a major topic after just one season shows how much the Panthers fans love him. I just listened to an interview of Cam Newton on WFNZ and he was asked if he would stay in town. Of course he said he would stay but then again he wouldn’t say otherwise either.

The Carolina Panthers need to show Cam Newton that they are dedicated to winning. If Cam Newton wins with the Panthers then he will stay.Newton wants to go down as the best quarterback ever and you need to win to do that.

So the Carolina Panthers need to show Cam they want to win and they need to try to resign him now. Even if Cam Newton decides to leave Carolina, he will still be franchised two times. So it’s in Cam Newton’s best interest to sign a long term deal with the Panthers anyway.

I do not expect the Panthers to negotiate with Cam Newton about and extension yet. However if Cam Newton follows up his rookie season with another great year, then the Panthers will have to start negotiating with him.

Cam Newton by far is already the most popular Carolina Panther ever and the fans are very concerned about him leaving Charlotte. I don’t recall any rookie ever striking fear into his fans that he would leave when his contract runs out. Let’s just hope that Cam Newton finishes his career as a Carolina Panther.

Cam Newton had one of the best rookie seasons of any quarterback in NFL history. Cam Newton set a rookie passing yard season record with 4,051 yards also passing for 20 touchdowns and only 17 interceptions. I say only because typically rookie quarterbacks throw more interceptions than touchdown passes. Cam Newton’s 60.0 pass completion percentage was very acceptable for a rookie quarterback.

Cam Newton also set records running the football in his rookie season. Newton rushed 126 times for 706 yards and record 14 touchdowns. Averaging 5.6 yards per carry Cam Newton established himself as an elite scrambling NFK quarterback.

What impressed me the most about Cam Newton’s rookie season was both his poise and work ethic. Clearly Cam Newton didn’t try to get by solely on his athletic talent and was working hard with the coaches to get better. I only remember Newton getting visibly frustrated a couple of times as a rookie and that is impressive.

Considering that Cam Newton was mostly thought to be a project, he had a spectacular rookie season. Remember that due to the NFL lockout Newton missed a lot of training camp and off season passing schools and such.

With a full offseason of workouts and training camp under his belt look for Cam Newton to be even better during the 2012 NFL season. I don’t see Cam Newton having a sophomore slump next season.Newton’s work ethic and desire for greatness won’t allow him to slump.

If the Carolina Panthers can solidify their defense then Cam Newton and the offense will have the team in playoff contention in 2012. I expect the Panthers to be Super Bowl contenders in 2013 with Cam Newton being a great leader and NFL quarterback.

Thanks to Cam Newton the future is bright indeed for the Carolina Panthers. For the first time we have a true franchise quarterback and one that eyes all over the country will be on.Newtonand the Carolina Panthers offense will earn the team some primetime games next year so fans in other markets can see him play.

The Carolina Panthers head into week two of the preseason a little banged up as they prepare to play the Miami Dolphins. According to Steve Reed of Carolinagrowl.com (via Twitter) Stewart, Gamble, Goodson and Gary Barnidge are questionable. Beason, Schwartz, Otah, Hardy and Fiammetta are out for the Panthers/Dolphins preseason game.

The big news heading into week two of the 2011 Panthers preseason is Cam Newton’s first start. Newton played fairly well last week and will start and play mostly with the starting unit. Jimmy Clausen is expected to see a lot of playing time with the 2^nd string with Anderson getting some spot duty.

The big things the Panthers want out of the preseason game with the Dolphins is for everyone to stay healthy and for Cam Newton to keep progressing. There is little doubt now that Newton will be the regular season starting quarterback from day one unless he has a major meltdown in the preseason.

Charles “Big Money” Johnson will be playing this week against the Dolphins and may have a good game. As Jason Roberts points out at his excellent “Bottlenose Blogging” site, the Dolphins have a less than stellar offensive line.

Panthers fans will see a familiar face in Matt Moore who is probably going to be the second string quarterback this season for the Dolphins.  I look for Moore to play well against the banged up Panthers defense.

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Steve Smith will be playing against the Dolphins after sitting out last week due to an injured hand. Contrary to some reports it was a pass from Jimmy Clausen (not Newton) that injured Smith. Between Smith and tight end Greg Olsen I think the Panthers offense will have some pop this week.

Due to the short offseason and new coaches and systems, I expect the Panthers starters to play more than they would in most preseason games. The Panthers are still installing their offense and defense. Fan reaction to both systems has been positive everywhere I have seen or heard it mentioned.

Two players I am interested in seeing against the Dolphins are wide receiver Armanti Edwards and running back Tyrell Sutton. Edwards has had a great training camp and may be ready to assume more of a wide receiver role. Sutton is a good running back who just needs opportunities and he will get some playing time inMiami.

The Panthers preseason game in Miami will be a success if there are no injuries and the team continues to jell. I don’t pay much attention to wins and losses in preseason; I just want to see solid play with few turnovers and penalties. Let the Cam Newton era of starting begin!

The Carolina Panthers defeated the New York Giants 20 to 10 in the first preseason game for either team. Cam Newton was the man Panther fans wanted to see and he played well for a rookie.

I was impressed that Newton wasn’t afraid to check down to a secondary receiver and wasn’t forcing the ball. In Newton’s NFL debut he threw 19 passes and completed 8 of them for 134 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. In the Panthers first preseason game Newton didn’t look nervous or get flustered by the defense.

Brett Jensen said on his “OTB” radio show last week that Cam seems to throw more accurately on his long passes than the short stuff. “OTB” can be heard on WFNZ which is Charlotte’s best sports radio station in my opinion.

Cam Newton did indeed look more accurate on the longer passes that he threw, but he didn’t turn the ball over. Turnovers are the bane of rookie quarterbacks and are important to avoid even in preseason.

Jimmy Clausen the former Notre Dame QB taken in the 2^nd round of the 2010 NFL draft actually started the Panthers preseason game with the Giants. Jimmy Clausen completed 4 of 7 passes for 69 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Clausen looked a little more composed that what he showed last year.

Other than Cam Newton I think the Panthers fans were interested in how Greg Olsen would do in the preseason game. Olsen didn’t disappoint as he caught 3 passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. Mike Goodson had a decent night except for two fumbles which have plagued him in the past. Armanti Edwards showed that he has worked hard this offseason to overcome last year’s “Bust” tag. Edwards make a difficult catch and did well on two punt returns.  

Linebacker Thomas Williams had a nice night with 7 tackles and 1 quarterback sack. Jordan Pugh got a sack on a blitz to go with two tackles from the defensive secondary. Cornerback Robert McClain had a nice night which was much needed for this team in need of help at that position.

The Panthers preseason game against the Giants marked the beginning of a new era for the team. Orlindo Mare has replaced original Carolina Panther John Kasay as the kicker. Kasay was released due to his inability to kick off with any distance. Mare already had a home near Charlotte and told a friend of mine last year he would not be a Panther. Well things change fast in the NFL.

 
Considering that the Panthers have a new coaching staff and a shortened offseason due to the lockout, I was impressed in their preseason win over the Giants. Be sure to check back here soon to see my thoughts about the upcoming preseason game between the Panthers and Dolphins.

All eyes are on Cam Newton in Carolina.Newton is possibly the most polarizing athlete in Charlotte sports history. People seem to love him or hate him, or at least the selection of him with the first pick in the 2011 NFL draft. For the record I wanted the Panthers to select Patrick Peterson but am now on the Cam Newton bandwagon.

I was very impressed with Cam Newton’s performance in the first preseason game, a win over the New York Giants. To be honest I liked what Cam Newton didn’t do in his NFL debut more than what he did do.

Cam Newton did not throw an interception or fumble the ball in his first NFL action. I never saw Newton appear to panic or to be confused. Granted you are not going to see complex defenses in the first preseason game but Newton didn’t get the deer in the headlights look like many rookie quarterbacks do.

Newton’s main criticism has been his accuracy and his longer throws seem more accurate than the short stuff. Accuracy will improve as his passing mechanics do and I eagerly await seeing him play in 2012.

Cam Newton’s progress has been slowed by the NFL lockout which cut out many offseason workouts and 24 practices. A rookie quarterback especially switching from the spread offense to a pro offense needs all the offseason work he can get. I was glad to find out that Cam Newton trained at theIMA Madden Football Academy in the offseason.

Luckily the Carolina Panthers have taken a good approach to the rookie quarterback. They have given him some nice weapons in signing Jeremy Shockey, trading for Greg Olsen and resigning DeAngelo Williams. The fact that Steve Smith is no longer requesting a trade bodes well for Cam Newton as well. Legedu Naanee who knows the offense from playing with the Chargers was added to the Panthers receiving unit as well.

New coach Ron Rivera brought Rob Chudzinski over from San Diegoto be the offensive coordinator. “Chud” was the tight ends coach with the Chargers and also coached Shockey and Olsen at the University of Miami. This offense will stress the tight end on short to intermediate routes and medium to long routes for the wide receivers.

I feel that this is a good offensive system for Cam Newton to be in. Rookie quarterbacks tend to love throwing to the tight end and this offense is already geared towards that. I am not sure that Cam Newton will start the first regular season game as Jimmy Clausen is playing better than last year. But make no mistake Cam Newton will be the starting quarterback at some point for the Carolina Panthers in 2011.