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Cam Newton starting to take quite a beating


Bronco Billy
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Some choice cuts from the article:

 

********************

 

Is Cam the next V.Y.? Depends on your perspective

By Clark Judge

CBSSports.com Senior Writer

 

I was talking to a head coach the other day when I asked him to name the third-best quarterback in this year's draft.

 

"Depends on who your first two are," he said.

 

"OK," I said, "how about Blaine Gabbert and Cam Newton?"

 

"Well, then," he replied, "we differ.'"

 

Uh, pardon me? Gabbert and Newton seem to be as inseparable as Dolce and Gabbana, with one or the other at the head of this class of quarterbacks. But not on this coach's board.

 

...

 

Only some scouts, personnel directors, coaches and GMs aren't con-Vinced. In fact, I had a handful who told me that, based on collegiate careers, they'd take Young.

 

Seriously.

 

"This guy has no natural throwing motion," said one AFC assistant. "To be honest, Vince Young looked like a more natural passer. You look at this guy's passes, and they're heavy. There is nothing natural about the way he delivers a pass."

 

That was apparent at last week's pro day, and it was apparent at the annual scouting combine when Newton had trouble making completions against air. He looked more comfortable at his Auburn workout, but you'd expect that. What you wouldn't expect is more fallout afterward about someone once touted as the best prospect in years.

 

Then again, I heard that in 2006, too.

 

"He's OK if he can see the field and everything is in front of him," said one coach. "But if he has to make a quick read, then turn and throw the ball he can't. The thing that really stood out at his workout is how he stared down everyone. If he can see it -- like the comeback -- he can make the throw. But if he has to turn to throw to his left, the ball can go anywhere. And that's what playing in the NFL is all about."

 

Newton has been working on polishing his mechanics, but they're still a work in progress -- so incomplete that one of his most ardent supporters, a scout I trust, said it might take a year to straighten them out. But his point was: So what? So you might have to clean up his footwork and work on his accuracy. The way he sees it, if someone has an abundance of talent you find a way to develop it.

 

...

 

Questions move from Newton's mechanics to Newton's character, and here is where the conversation begins to boil. In fact, he fares so poorly in this department that a head coach at the annual NFL scouting combine told me he absolutely, positively, would not draft the guy. And he's not alone.

 

"There are so many red flags," said one GM, "it's like he's telling you, 'Don't take me.' "

 

There were issues at the University of Florida. There were issues at Auburn. Now, of course, there are those oh-so-regrettable quotes about wanting to be an "icon" and "entertainer" that he tried to disclaim at the combine. Put them together, and you have a multi-talented quarterback with multi-layered concerns.

 

"I could not make him the face of the franchise," said an NFC general manager. "My feeling is that there are going to be problems, and there are going to be issues."

 

The bottom line, of course, is: Will there be success? There was with Young, but it was short-lived. Now, he's a quarterback looking for his next team.

 

So is Newton, only he hasn't played a minute of pro football, and there's a big difference. Nevertheless, there's a lot of Vince Young in Cam Newton, and that can be good ... or bad. It all depends on the perspective.

 

"If I have a question about him," said one scout, "it's moments of inaccuracy that, I believe, stem from lapses in concentration. He'll miss two or three passes he shouldn't; then you see him get mad at himself and start making the plays he should have made before.

 

:wacko:

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I see Akili Smith all over again and pray the Bengals do not take him.

 

Wow. Just what Kiper said about Newton:

 

By Michael McCarthy, USA TODAY

 

That's got to hurt. During a conference call today, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.compared Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton of Auburn to Akili Smith, one of the NFL's all-time draft busts who started only 17 games for the Cincinnati Bengals before finishing his disappointing career with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders, according to ProFootballTalk.com

 

"He was a one-year wonder. Akili Smith was a one-year wonder," said Kiper about Newton who didn't wow the scouts at the NFL Combine.

 

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Former megabust Akili Smith believes that Auburn QB Cam Newton will be "a very good NFL quarterback."

The kiss of death. ESPN's Mel Kiper recently compared Newton to Smith as a one-year wonder, but Smith doesn't see it. "If they feel he's a one-year wonder, then, please, let him break in behind a veteran," Smith said. "I love his game. I think he'll be a very good NFL quarterback. If he does what I didn't do and not get caught up in the clubs and the entertainment thing."

 

:wacko:

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I'll take Ponder thank you very much.

 

My top 3: :

 

Ponder

Gabbert

Special K

 

I don't know if I like Ponder #1 but he sure looked great in the Senior Bowl and the combine. If he can stay healthy, you could be right.

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