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Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501
Yeah, he's easily a better prospect than Vince Young was. But there are things in his game that need a ton of work:
-He's a largely 1-read and fire away guy. You're not going to get away with that in the pros
-He gained a ton of yards on the ground by designed run plays where he was off and running as soon as he dropped back. He's also not going to get away with that in the pros.
Add this all up. #1 - I don't think he has the work ethic in the film room to learn how to read defenses to make him better. #2 - he looks like a guy who's instinct is going to be to look at the #1 target and if he's not open, use his legs. And that's a recipe for disaster every time.
milkman's right--running QBs in this league rarely ever succeed until they can prove they can pass the ball out of a dropback. Steve Young, McNair and McNabb strike me as three running QBs who got a lot better once they started using their arm more than their legs.
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Where/how are you determining that "I don't think he has the work ethic in the film room to learn how to read defenses to make him better."?
I'm assuming that your opinions are simply self-deduced ones, correct?
#1: Here is a quote from his offensive coordinator at Auburn:
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“He spends time in the film room on his own,” Malzahn said. “He goes over things. He has the same attitude off the field as he does on the field when it comes to football. He has a very good mind.”
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Newton, by all accounts, fit in beautifully. "I assumed this kid, coming from Florida, would have a little bit of an attitude," says Jeff Tilley, Blinn's sports information director. "But Cam was the opposite of a prima donna. He was a workaholic, and would talk to anyone."
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#2. Here's a quote from the South Carolina defensive coordinator:
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The first time around, Ellis Johnson was more concerned with Cam Newton's throwing arm than his legs.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
As South Carolina prepared for its Sept. 25 game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Newton had started just three games as the Auburn quarterback. In two of them, against the quality defenses of Mississippi State and Clemson, he hadn't come close to rushing for 100 yards.
"We didn't have the respect for him as a runner," said Johnson, South Carolina's assistant coach in charge of defense. "I was more concerned about him throwing the ball deep."
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And if you look at Newton's statistics, he became a substantially better passer as the season wore on. Percentage went up, interceptions became non-existent, yardages increased, etc.
It's funny...the same guys that were bagging on Bradford, Tebow and Freeman as quarterbacks that were going to bomb in the NFL are the same ones now bagging on Newton.
And it's the same stuff all over again: "Spread system quarterback." "Runs a lot." "Can't read a defense."
Oh noes! A guy has mobility! A guy from a spread never reads defenses, even though he went up against some of the best defenses and defensive players in the country in the SEC! They'll never make it in the NFL!
It kills me that some people are borderline ecstatic to draft guys like Aldon Smith or Justin Houston in the first round as a strong side OLB for a 3-4 when they've never played that position, but yet they are "athletes" and that's okay. However, when a guy who has actually played a position such as QB and has been very successful at it, they won't be able to play in the pros because their college that they played at wasn't one of the four remaining colleges who run a "pro style set" offense.
Or at least the highly touted guys. Guys who most people don't know about or don't have an idea about when they played college ball are okay with. Or if they played at Missouri. Blaine Gabbert played in a total spread system, is raw in terms of his physical makeup (the guy is soft), has a reputation for a less than stellar work ethic and had nowhere close to the success that Newton enjoyed on the field, but, goddamn, that kid would be worth trading up for, emiright?