Panthers To Start Cam Newton At QB This Friday
Added on Aug 18, 2011 by Jack Thurman in
No Comments
Although the regular season starting quarterback job in Carolina is wide open the Panthers will hand the reins over to highly touted rookie Cam Newton for the team’s second preseason game. Newton will get the starting nod when the Panthers head to South Florida to take on the Miami Dolphins.
The move isn’t a huge surprise–Panthers’ coach Ron Rivera has said all along that he expects Newton and second year Notre Dame product Jimmy Claussen to split time at quarterback during the preseason. Rivera said that Claussen will also get reps with the first team offense this week to make sure that he continues to develop. The expectation is that either Claussen or Newton will be the starting quarterback when Carolina opens the regular season on September 11. If neither young quarterback is ready for that role the Panthers do have the option of veteran Derek Anderson but clearly he’s not being considered as a long term solution.
Rivera has said that the first team offense will play most, if not all, of the first half this week. The expectation is that the Panthers’ first year coach will make that announcement next week when he says the team will have “a real good feel for what we’re going to do as we go into the regular season.”
Newton did see some playing time in the Panthers’ opening preseason game though his performance was inconclusive at best. He played in a very simplistic offense at Auburn that was designed to leverage his athleticism, so he’s got a steep learning curve to be able to work from within a traditional NFL set. In fact, some critics suggest that Newton won’t be able to fill the starting role any time soon due to this liability alone.
Newton completed 8 of 19 passes for 134 yards, including a pair of completions of long completions of 30 or more yards. He struggled with his accuracy but, as evidenced by the standing ovation he received when he entered the contest, has given the downtrodden Panthers a bit of swagger and excitement. Whether Newton can maintain the enthusiasm level of Panthers’ fans over the course of a regular season remains to be seen.
