I feel safe in saying Cam Newton won’t be another Heisman Quarterback bust. Cam Newton won’t join the ranks of Gino Toretta, Andre Ware and other Heisman winners who were NFL quarterback busts.

I am writing this just four games into Cam Newton’s rookie season with the Carolina Panthers. So of course I could be wrong and Newton may meltdown into mediocrity. But I don’t see Cam Newton ending up as another Heisman bust in the NFL.

Everyone knew Cam Newton has all the physical tools to succeed in the NFL. People who didn’t know him questioned his work ethic and his intelligence. Whether Cam Newton’s intangibles were questioned out of ignorance or due to some unsavory agenda, we don’t know.

Cam Newton had a short offseason due to the NFL lockout. Instead of waiting for something to happen he went to Florida to train with Chris Weinke. Now bless his heart but Weinke WAS a Heisman bust as a quarterback. However Weinke can train quarterbacks and he raved about Cam’s work ethic.

Now to be honest I didn’t want the Carolina Panthers to draft Cam Newton. I wanted LSU corner Patrick Peterson. I bought into the noise that a quarterback who ran the spread offense in college wouldn’t do well in an NFL offense. Well last year I thought Jimmie Clausen would be great because he did run a pro set in college.

What we are hearing now is that Cam Newton works himself hard in order to get better. Cam Newton won’t allow himself to be a bust.  His accuracy which was and is a legitimate concern is improving. More importantly Cam Newton is a gamer. When the lights come on he gets better. Ladies and gentlemen, that can’t be coached.

We as Carolina Panthers fans don’t know how to act with a legitimate franchise quarterback. We have always had game managers at least since Kerry Collins had a drunken meltdown and left town. Some of us were afraid to put too much hope in Cam Newton for fear he would fail and break our hearts.

So while I was late in jumping on the Cam Newton bandwagon, I have a seat. I was assured by frequent WFNZ caller Chevin, that indeed there is still room in Cam-A-Lot.  Chevin knew before most of us that Cam Newton would not be a bust.

Thanks for reading my preview of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers game to be played on Sunday September 25^th 2011 in Charlotte. This will be a battle of rookie quarterbacks as Cam Newton will be facing Blaine Gabbert of the Jacksonville Jaguars, in Gabbert’s first NFL start.

In my preview of the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Carolina Panthers I will explain what I think needs to happen for a Panther win. To check out some stuff on the Jacksonville Jaguars you can visit Roger Gonzalez’s Jag Journal.

There are three keys to the Carolina Panthers beating the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. And to be honest two are keys to winning most NFL games but this one in particular.

Key to the Panthers beating the Jaguars- Time of Possession

Both the Jaguars and Panthers have the edge over their opponents in time of possession during the previous two games in the 2011 NFL season. Teams with young quarterbacks like Gabbert and Newton need to win the time of possession battle. To do that it indicates a lack of turnovers and a successful running game for the offense. With the injuries on the Panthers defense this is key for a Carolina win. Beason and Davis are out for the year and Charles Godfrey will miss the Jacksonville game.

Key to the Panthers beating the Jaguars- Turnovers

So far in 2011 the Panthers are -3 in turnovers while the Jaguars are at -2. Whoever wins the turnover battle will also win most NFL games. With two rookie quarterbacks like Cam Newton and Blaine Gabbert playing, you can expect some turnovers. Turnovers often cause a shift in a game’s momentum and also can give your offense a short field to work with.

Key to the Panthers beating the Jaguars- Stop Maurice Jones-Drew

Maurice Jones-Drew has 185 yards so far in 2011 and is averaging a nice 4.4 yards per carry. Jones-Drew will be the focal point of the Jaguars offense as he can take the pressure off of Gabbert. The fact that Carolina is banged up on defense and letting opponents run for 4.8 yards per carry does not bode well for the Panthers stopping Maurice Jones-Drew.

I feel that the best chance Carolina has of stopping Maurice Jones-Drew is to get an early lead and keep it. The Panthers need to force Jacksonville into passing mode and make Blaine Gabbert beat them.

The Carolina Panthers must improve their Red Zone offense and capitalize on any scoring opportunities early to beat the Jaguars. My prediction is that Cam Newton and the Panthers get their first win of the season by the score of 27 to 21.

Thanks for checking out my preview of the Jaguars and Panthers game please feel free to leave a comment. All stats mentioned come from NFL.com.

Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers travel to Arizona on Sunday to take on the Cardinals in the 2011 season opener. This will of course be Cam Newton’s first start in a regular season game as the Panthers quarterback.

Look for the Panthers to try to establish the running game against the Cardinals to take as much pressure off of Cam Newton as they can. What I like about the new offense is their emphasis on the tight end. Rookie quarterbacks tend to like tight ends anyway as they are a good safety outlet. With Greg Olsen and Jeremy Shockey, Cam Newton has some good targets.

I don’t expect Cam Newton to throw a lot of passes in his NFL debut against Arizona, unless the Panthers get behind. The Panthers will want Newton to take it easy and build up his confidence.

One thing to look for is Steve Smith on broken plays. Cam Newton throws well on the run and if he takes off but throws, Smith could be the target. Steve Smith is excellent at freelancing and getting open when a play breaks down. And Newton seems more inclined to throw when possible instead of just taking off on a run.

One bit of good news for Panthers fans is that Jon Beason is expected to play against the Arizona Cardinals. It was thought Beason may miss some regular season games after having foot surgery recently, but he is a fast healer.

Beason, James Anderson and Thomas Davis make up one of the best linebacking units in the NFL. I expect them to make some big plays in the Arizona game if the defensive line can keep the guards off of them.

The big news for the Arizona Cardinals in the offseason was the acquisition of quarterback Kevin Kolb from the Eagles. Kolb was the heir apparent to Donovan McNabb at one point before being beaten out by Michael Vick.

I am not sold on Kevin Kolb but having Larry Fitzgerald on your team can make any quarterback look good. The Cardinals were thin at running back but recently added former Bear and Viking Chester Taylor to back up Beanie Wells.

The Cardinals defense is maybe a tad underrated and has to be improved with the addition of rookie Patrick Peterson who will solidify the secondary. Former Carolina Panther Richard Marshall looks to be in the nickel defense against his old team.

Another former Carolina Panther turned Arizona Cardinal is tight end Jeff King an excellent blocker. King will be backing up long time Baltimore Raven Todd Heap. King may be important as the Cardinals will try to run the ball against Carolina to set up the pass.

If the Cardinals are successful in their running the ball then Kolb and Fitzgerald could have a big day. Chris Gamble will be locked up on Fitzgerald and often in single coverage when the Panthers blitz.To sum up my breakdown of the Panthers at the Cardinals game, I expect it to be a close one. With Carolina’s running game and if Cam continues to not turn the ball over, I don’t see Arizona running away with it. If you want to chime in about Cam Newton’s first NFL start then please leave a comment below.

I think Cam Newton should start right away for the Carolina Panthers during the 2011 NFL season. I have a theory on starting rookie quarterbacks, if he is the best hope for a win then start him right away. If the Panthers had a good established veteran then I would say sit Cam for a season.

Derek Anderson is the veteran quarterback and went to the Pro Bowl using this offense in Cleveland. But Anderson got very little playing time in the preseason and Jimmy Clausen didn’t clearly beat out Cam Newton.

Cam Newton is really handicapped by not having offseason workouts and quarterback camps. Still by all appearances he has learned the offense well enough to execute it and is making good football decisions in the preseason.

Newton has struggled with accuracy and I don’t expect that to improve much until 2012. However starting Cam Newton right now will get him some much needed experience, much like Josh Freeman got in Tampa two years ago.

The Panthers just need their offensive line play to improve and Cam Newton should be ok as a starter in 2011. This team has more weapons than Jimmy Clausen had last year. Olsen and Shockey are a rookie quarterback’s best friends and will help Newton.

Solid line play will also allow the Panthers running game to help out Cam Newton when he starts as a rookie. One advantage is that in the NFC South there isn’t a really great defense. So Cam Newton will be in some shootouts due to the great offense’s that ARE in the division.

Panthers fans will just have to be patient with Cam Newton as the starter as he has his growing pains. What Cam Newton learns as a rookie quarterback could well put the team in position for a playoff run in 2012.

Please feel free to leave a comment below with your thoughts on whether Cam Newton should be the starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers. Thanks for reading this and please stop by again.