Would you trade the no. 1 pick for Cam Newton?

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by Cochise

There's quite a gap between Cam Newton and Alex Smith here.

For example, Newton was stymied by his terrible receivers and terrible offensive line, so it wasn't really his fault. When this happened to Alex Smith, he was supposed to "throw them open" and if he were a good QB, he'd raise the level of the people around him.

Newton turned the ball over 3 times and produced no touchdowns, to say nothing of his mental gaffe of not going in for the fumble which ended his team's chances, or his screaming at officials toward the end, but it was excusable because he was playing a great defense. Smith gets criticized when he plays a good defense and wins, but doesn't put up a lot of yards.

Smith has never once displayed a lack of maturity like Newton did last night after the game, but around here he's seen as not leading enough, just towing the company line, etc

In the game thread, you point out that Newton was overthrowing half the time, side arming passes, etc., it's because he is being hurried. Smith dealt with that all last year and it was just "no more excuses!"

It's remarkable how we at CP treat our own players worse than anyone else's. It's particularly remarkable today, because Alex Smith probably would have won that game. Nobody has ever said Smith was an elite QB but he is a mature player who usually keeps his cool in the pocket, does well at feeling the rush, and handles pressure without becoming a turnover machine or losing his accuracy.