Cam Newton, Up close and personal

[AWK]

http://tribeca.vidavee.com/advance/doc/797C297ACB44FB93A9FBCEA1536B5DC8?AF_deliveryChannel=play

I can't wait until football season.  Make sure you watch the last part about him and his first day of class, haha.

Here is the al.com link, if video player is not working: http://blog.al.com/goldmine/2010/03/video_new_auburn_quarterback_c.html

[Kaos]

My initial concern that Newton would turn out to be more Jordan Jefferson or Jamarcus Russell than Jason Campbell or Chris Leak has abated somewhat. 

I want to see him at full speed against our #1s, though.  The things I saw him do on film at juco probably won't be feasible here.  He won't have weeks in the pocket like he did there and he's not going to out-jog everybody to the endzone in the SEC either.

Even Vince Young couldn't do it until his last season.

[AUChizad]

I can't fucking wait for this football season.

Semi-related question: Will they be doing that Auburn Every Day show again? I hope they find a way to continue doing that. Cam's got a personality that would be great for the show, it looks like.

[AWK]

My initial concern that Newton would turn out to be more Jordan Jefferson or Jamarcus Russell than Jason Campbell or Chris Leak has abated somewhat. 

I want to see him at full speed against our #1s, though.  The things I saw him do on film at juco probably won't be feasible here.  He won't have weeks in the pocket like he did there and he's not going to out-jog everybody to the endzone in the SEC either.

Even Vince Young couldn't do it until his last season.

Agree.  I want to see his speed relative to our starting defensive ends and linebackers.  Also, I want to see his accuracy passing the ball.

[jmar]

I can't see him running the option as well as some of the others and of course we won't know if he is the real deal until SEC play begins. The JUCO video is basically a series of broken plays.

[Snaggletiger]

Here's the thing about the speed.  Todd couldn't outrun my toaster so the offense was limited to a certain extent.  And when they got to him, oftentimes, he went full on tard.  If you noticed the last few games of the season, there were several times when he picked his spots and took off.  Very effective when he did.  I'm hoping that we will see that CGM's offense is not so much geared around having the "Athletic" QB who runs all over the place as much as it's designed for the QB to pick his spots on when to take off.  Jason Campbell was a master at that in his senior year under Borges.  He didn't run all the time but when he did...good things always happened.

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

Here's the thing about the speed.  Todd couldn't outrun my toaster so the offense was limited to a certain extent.  And when they got to him, oftentimes, he went full on tard.  If you noticed the last few games of the season, there were several times when he picked his spots and took off.  Very effective when he did.  I'm hoping that we will see that CGM's offense is not so much geared around having the "Athletic" QB who runs all over the place as much as it's designed for the QB to pick his spots on when to take off.  Jason Campbell was a master at that in his senior year under Borges.  He didn't run all the time but when he did...good things always happened.

This.  A little shift in how I see it though...

Todd ran a lot because he'd get spots due to no spy, or nobody respecting his run ability.  Nobody figured he could...even after he DID at times.  WR's were totally covered because of it, and it lead to a lot of times where he was holding the ball too long, and then didn't run effectively.

I'd like to see Newton's opportunities come because a linebacker, safety, DE (or whoever) gambled and lost on a coverage, because they didn't respect Newton's ability to run.   I want to see deliberate runs caused by misdirection and other situations caused by simply having more weapons than the defense can cover.

I like that C. Newton seems to be studying to recognize those situations, and hopefully be prepared to run, or run the offense like a 34 year old veteran should.

[djsimp]

An athletic QB can run around and make things exciting for the fans but not make a whole lot of yards. A smart QB is one who picks and choses when the time is right and what lane is right to run through ad make significant gains. A smart athletic QB can make a defense look stupid, plain and simple. It is my own opinion that Newton is a smart and athletic QB. Is it because I am biased, probably some but I do have the capability of taking myself of biased thinking and to look at the tangibles and also other characteristics that equal success. I have will have to tell you, I...am...stoked...about...Cam...Newton. He still has to face the toughest defenses in the NCAA, but I do believe he has the mindset to step up to whatever the challenge is and do his part in the W. Now, the rest of the team has to follow.

[CCTAU]

Todd was a passer. Always had been. He was not slow, he just was not very experienced at running. Even a fast QB looks slow when he makes a bad decision on WHEN to run. Not to mention, the coaches were not very interested in running Todd and getting his shoulder injured. All of this made for a QB that ran little.
BTW. Todd ran a 4.7 in the 40. Not speedy, but definitely not slow.

I think the other guys, Newton and Caudle, do have a better understanding of when to run and are a little faster. So this season, we may see a better balance. We saw Caudle take off last season and make good yards. He definitely has better running skills that Todd. We'll have to wait and see with Newton. I think folks will be very surprised at how close Caudle and Newton will be going into fall. Either way, an injury at QB this season may not be as big of a reason to panic as it has been in the past. This alone puts us light years ahead of last season at the QB position.

As we get along in time, I think many of you will finally realize just how football smart Todd was. He had great work ethic and made pretty darn good decisions for a QB in a new offense. His success was not on his physical abilities as much as it was his ability to understand the offense. Caudle had a season of that offense under him and studied under Todd. He is no slouch physically. So this QB battle may be the best one we have had in a while. If Newton can pick up the offense, he has a great chance. If Caudle knows the offense better, I think GM will go with that. If that is the case, I would love to see the use of both QBs. Newton as the wildcat would give him a chance to use his abilities while learning the offense.

If newton does pick up the offense well, then we have an excellent combination in case of injury.

Either way we are looking good.

[jadennis]

My initial concern that Newton would turn out to be more Jordan Jefferson or Jamarcus Russell than Jason Campbell or Chris Leak has abated somewhat. 

I agree.  It doesn't appear hard work and humility will be his problem.  Just like we have to take Chizik step by step, we have to figure our Newton step by step.  To this point, he has only had limited opportinity to show us what he's about...and so far, it's all good stuff.  He doesn't seem to feel entitled to anything, but just the opposite, in fact.  I also like the fact that he turned down the invite from his brother to hit the beach. 

He really seems to be on a mission here.  He seems to have the traits that are the difference in who is good and who is great.  It's not always a talent question.  It's often an attitude and heart issue...he seems to be in a good place in those two areas.

Now we wait to see if the talent is all we hope.

161 looooong days until kick-off.

[jmar]

My initial concern that Newton would turn out to be more Jordan Jefferson or Jamarcus Russell than Jason Campbell or Chris Leak has abated somewhat. 

I want to see him at full speed against our #1s, though.  The things I saw him do on film at juco probably won't be feasible here.  He won't have weeks in the pocket like he did there and he's not going to out-jog everybody to the endzone in the SEC either.

Even Vince Young couldn't do it until his last season.

and drop the end zone diving theatrics.