The hot topic during the Carolina Panthers offseason program thus far has been the throwing motion of Cam Newton.
However, Newton actually displayed the change during 2018 – Norv Turner said in his introductory conference call with the media that he and quarterbacks coach Scott Turner “are going to work hard to get his weight transferred and have good technique when he is throwing.”
That was 19 months ago – so the concept of Cam’s “new mechanics” isn’t exactly new.
Since the father-and-son offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach team arrived in Charlotte, they’ve been working on tweaking Newton’s throwing mechanics. The problem was, Newton suffered a shoulder injury halfway through the 2018 season. Not long after the season was over, Newton had a procedure on his throwing shoulder for the second time since 2017 and during the last week of their offseason program, Newton was throwing again and appears to be on track to be a full participant during training camp.
He looked to be throwing without pain in a video put out on his social media this week of his annual summit with his pass catchers, held this year in California instead of the usual Baltimore – this year’s ‘Hell Week’ includes D.J. Moore, Alex Armah, Elijah Holyfield, Chris Manhertz, Christian McCaffrey and Jarius Wright.
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Newton throwing without pain is great news for the Panthers and bad news for the rest of the NFL – despite their late-season slide after his injury, the Panthers feel optimistic for this upcoming season – a lot of that optimism stems from the way Newton played before during the first eight games of the season.
Statistically, Newton was on pace to have better numbers than his 2015 MVP season when he helped the Panthers reach the Super Bowl; during the Panthers first eight games of the season in 2018, Newton threw for 1,893 yards, 15 touchdowns while only throwing four interceptions. More importantly, Newton completed 67.9% of his passes in 2018, which was the best of his eight-year career.
That wasn’t all – the quarterback had the most touchdowns, fewest interceptions and highest QB rating through the first eight games of any season in his career, including 2015.
Newton played hurt after the loss to the Steelers, but he clearly wasn’t the same player. In his final six starts before the Panthers shut him down, Newton threw for 1,502 yards with nine touchdowns against nine interceptions.
Carolina proceeded to lose seven consecutive games before winning their season finale against the New Orleans Saints. With the Panthers set to begin training camp in late July, there are several reasons why Newton and the Panthers’ offense could be headed for a big season – but it starts with a healthy Newton.
A healthy Newton is one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the entire NFL.
“He’s strong like Ben Roethlisberger, he’s got accuracy like any other top tier quarterback and, of course, he can outrun you more than Russell Wilson can,” Saints defensive lineman and Newton nemesis Cameron Jordan said this week on The Herd w/ Colin Cowherd. “He can shrug you off, he can outrun you; as he’s falling, he can sling a 60-yard, accurate ball.”
“He’s probably the greatest sack you’re going to try and get after.”
This offseason, the Panthers have upgraded their offensive line by signing center Matt Paradis to replace Ryan Kalil, drafted Greg Little from Ole Miss and brought back Daryl Williams – overall and strictly on paper, this will be the most talented offensive line group Newton has ever had in front of him. Carolina’s offensive line will be critical to the success of their offense and Newton,
During the last three seasons, Newton has been sacked 98 times, ninth-most for a quarterback over that span.
Newton’s young receivers, Curtis Samuel and D.J. Moore, should both factor into the success of Newton and the Panthers offense. During the second half of the season, Samuel caught 31 receptions for 388 yards and three touchdowns during that span. Now that Moore has a season under his belt, he could potentially be the Panthers best receiving threat since Steve Smith – something Smith himself anointed Moore when he was drafted.
“I just anticipate a nice big step this year for everybody in the system,” said Ron Rivera during OTAs. “I think Christian has a chance to grow, we’ve got D.J., who’s growing, and Curtis is growing.”
Then there’s running back Christian McCaffrey and Greg Olsen, who are Newton’s favorite targets. McCaffrey registered a total of 1,965 all-purpose yards and 13 total touchdowns in 2018 and assuming Olsen can stay healthy, that will give Newton another security blanket, which will take pressure off of McCaffrey, who has expressed that having 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season are within his goals.
Working with Norv Turner in 2018 was potentially the start of Newton returning to his 2015 MVP form – but injuries stood in his way.
If he can stay healthy, there’s no limit on how far Newton can carry the Panthers in 2019 now that the team has provided him with an upgraded supporting cast.
