Let The Cam Newton Era Begin: Charlotte Brace Yourself

When the Panthers went and chose Cam Newton with the first overall pick, they were making the pick based on what they had seen in action and what many had projected. Now it is time for the first overall pick to come in and learn how to be a professional quarterback. It will be interesting to see how the Panthers play Newton. Will they bring him along slowly and let Jimmy Clausen handle the duties early, or do they throw the young man to the wolves and let him get baptism by fire against the deceptive NFL defenses?

Newton is a superior athlete and if Carolina does put him out there, expect them to do a lot of running the ball early in the year. I suspect you will see a lot of three and five step drops and some play action similar to the way the Steelers played when forced to throw Ben Roethlisberger to the wolves. Make no mistake about it, Newton can be a good one, but expecting him to be great right out of the box is a mistake for any fan to make. 

This season will be filled with ups and downs as he learns his way around the field and the game starts to slow down a little bit for him. The speed of the game is crazy on this level and it takes everyone time to adjust. Peyton Manning and Troy Aikman are both examples of how its not easy as both struggled to win and both had far more interceptions than touchdowns as rookies. 

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The Carolina Panthers Are On The Clock

The Carolina Panthers have a ton of needs to address, however the lack of ability to maneuver via free agency has crippled the franchises ability to position itself so that it could make all of the right moves to cater to the new regime. New coach Ron Rivera has many needs to address and it appears he is going to have to make a choice real soon whether or not he is going offensive or defensive.

If you take a look at what the Panthers already have on their team, going defensive makes perfectly good sense. There is a pair of defensive tackles out there that almost every team in the league would love to pair up with speedy defensive ends to get stability on their defensive front. Everyone is enamored with Nick Fairley of Auburn and Marcell Darius of Alabama. Both guys display first overall pick grades but the Panthers have a dilemma to address. Admittedly they haven’t been the runs stopping team since the departure of Kris Jenkins to the Jets. So putting a big guy inside could really help them get better on defense.

The real question looms as to whether the Panthers feel like former Notre Dame Quarterback Jimmy Clausen is that guy. Is he the franchise guy? Is he the guy you are willing to turn over the keys to the franchise to and say lead us to a championship? If the answer to that question is no, then are there any guys on the board that they feel can be that guy. There are only two names up for discussion when it comes to this years quarterback class. All have questions and all have doubts about playing in a pro system.

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Fixing The Carolina Panthers: Taking On The Role As General Manager

OPEN YOUR EYES: YOU CAN"T HIT WHAT YOU CAN"T SEE

As you can tell, I have been on vacation for the past two weeks and I have spent a lot of time blogging and lets say I have been doing a lot of thinking as well. I kept asking myself if there was one thing I could do for the people of North Carolina for the holidays that can give them hope in the sports world. So I decided that I would hire myself as the manager of football operations for the Carolina Panthers and I would fix all of their problems in one year.

It might sound like a giant task but I am up to it. The Carolina Panthers have a lot to fix on their team and like I stated on twitter a few nights ago it’s easy to fix, they just need to make a few changes. First change: I trade Jimmy Clausen and get the best deal out there for him. It can be a 2^nd round pick, a couple of 3^rd round picks or whatever. I take the best deal on the market for him, but he must go.

Then I trade DeAngelo Williams. I love what he has done for the team but he like gold and the market is good. He is better sold than on my roster. Plus he is in a contract year and I am not going to pay him anyways afterwards so I better get what I can for him. I also like the other two backs with Stewart at the lead. DeAngelo will garner a 2^nd and a 5^th round pick and some teams might even be willing to give away a 1^st for him.

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NFL Week 4: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The fourth week of the NFL season did not disappoint. The featured match up of the week was however ruined by a Michael Vick injury but for the most part the action in the games was as good as it gets. Some of the teams in the NFL have some serious problems while others are having an identity crisis.

Today on BCSOM we will take a look at the good teams, the bad teams, and the ugly play that has taken place in the NFL up to this point in the season.

The Good:

The New York Jets. The Jets up until this point has been better than I thought they would be. Everyone knew their defense was good but their success has been a direct result of the maturation of Mark Sanchez and the offense. Sanchez has been great so far in the season. He is amongst the league leaders and has spread the ball around wonderfully to his teammates. They can only get better on offense with the addition of Santonio Holmes next week. Also if they can continue to run the ball the way they have, Dallas, Texas may be in their immediate future come February.

The Houston Texans. The Texans have a good team. They are probably the most complete team in their division. Defensively they could improve in their secondary but for the most part they have been as steady as she goes with how they play the game. They have incredible depth on their offense and probably the best defensive line in the game today.

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The Carolina Panthers Prepare for Life Without Julius Peppers

The Carolina Panthers look poised after their first preseason game and a lot of attention is being placed on the wide receiver position as well as the quarterback position. The Panthers drafted Jimmy Clausen and Tony Pike to ease the quarterback situation and also took Brandon LaFell and Armani Edwards to sure up the wide receiver position.

For those wondering about Steve Smith’s situation and his chances of playing in the first game, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Smith caught passes from a JUGS machine Saturday for the first time since breaking his arm twice in the past year. Smith was activated from the Physically Unable to Perform List on Monday and caught live passes for the first time this season. When asked if there were any question whether he'll be able to play the Panthers' regular-season opener against the Giants, Smith responded: "The only question is, 'What time does the game start?' That's the only question. Because I'll be suited up."

In other good news for the Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart practiced Saturday for the first time since undergoing off-season foot surgery. That has a lot of fantasy owners feeling good about the running back situation. For Panther fans worrying about how good Stewart will be, he is a lot like most good running backs, he doesn’t need a lot of practice to be good on Sundays.

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