For laughs and perspective here is what the media was describing cam newton prior to his debut

[PatFischer37]

http://www.catscratchreader.com/2011/8/8/2351140/how-is-cam-coming-along

[JerseyGator]

The best football player I ever saw in college who essentially only played one year with real competition. The fast learning curve that I've ever seen. He was not so great at the beginning of the year but was lights out by year end.

[sQuijeW]

should have made a move to get him even though it might have cost us a decasdes worth of pics...

[jnhay]

I don't get your point? This guy liked Cam Newton before preseason even started and looks good right about now. People also seem to like RGIII. Did you post the wrong article?

[pjfootballer]

Fans here in Charlotte are delusional. More delusional than our fans.

Here is the majority of their predictions:

11-5 (I'd say this is about the average. I've seen anywhere from 9-7 to 13-3), Division Title (because they think the Saints have regressed, the Falcons are meh and the Bucs still suck)

Cam Newton will be MVP, improve on his rookie year, not suffer a sophomore slump and is as good a passer as Tom Brady (yes, radio show announcer actually said that).

Delusional turdwads. They did nothing to upgrade their D Line or secondary, which is the reason they lost 10 games last year.

They don't realize defensive coordinators now have 16 games of film to find Cam's weaknesses. But never fear, their O-Coordinator Rob Chudzinski (Chud as the affectionately call him) is a genius and will out wit the other 31 D Coordinators

That same defense will face: Brees (2), Ryan (2), Freeman (2- and he lost 17 lbs), Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Romo sits to pee, Vick, Griffin, Phillip Rivers and Cutler. A murderers row of QBs to pass on that secondary.

Delusional.

[barefoot]

Spot on man, Panther fans in general are pretty "football stupid", and they are very delusional. I've heard it all summer long that they are THE best team in the NFC, some even saying NFL.

Fans here in Charlotte are delusional. More delusional than our fans.

Here is the majority of their predictions:

11-5 (I'd say this is about the average. I've seen anywhere from 9-7 to 13-3), Division Title (because they think the Saints have regressed, the Falcons are meh and the Bucs still suck)

Cam Newton will be MVP, improve on his rookie year, not suffer a sophomore slump and is as good a passer as Tom Brady (yes, radio show announcer actually said that).

Delusional turdwads. They did nothing to upgrade their D Line or secondary, which is the reason they lost 10 games last year.

They don't realize defensive coordinators now have 16 games of film to find Cam's weaknesses. But never fear, their O-Coordinator Rob Chudzinski (Chud as the affectionately call him) is a genius and will out wit the other 31 D Coordinators

That same defense will face: Brees (2), Ryan (2), Freeman (2- and he lost 17 lbs), Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Romo sits to pee, Vick, Griffin, Phillip Rivers and Cutler. A murderers row of QBs to pass on that secondary.

Delusional.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Guess this is as good a place as any to put this tweet:

Andrew T. Gray ‏@skinsfan00atg

Cam preseason total stats: Passing: 24/57 300 42% 1TD 0 INT 4 sacks 65 rating Rushing: 9/86 (9.6 avg) 1 TD

[Chachie]

Fans here in Charlotte are delusional. More delusional than our fans.

Here is the majority of their predictions:

11-5 (I'd say this is about the average. I've seen anywhere from 9-7 to 13-3), Division Title (because they think the Saints have regressed, the Falcons are meh and the Bucs still suck)

Cam Newton will be MVP, improve on his rookie year, not suffer a sophomore slump and is as good a passer as Tom Brady (yes, radio show announcer actually said that).

Delusional turdwads. They did nothing to upgrade their D Line or secondary, which is the reason they lost 10 games last year.

They don't realize defensive coordinators now have 16 games of film to find Cam's weaknesses. But never fear, their O-Coordinator Rob Chudzinski (Chud as the affectionately call him) is a genius and will out wit the other 31 D Coordinators

That same defense will face: Brees (2), Ryan (2), Freeman (2- and he lost 17 lbs), Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Romo sits to pee, Vick, Griffin, Phillip Rivers and Cutler. A murderers row of QBs to pass on that secondary.

Delusional.

You made me think about the QB's our secondary will face in 2012...

Manning (2), Vick (2), Romo sits to pee (2), Brees, Ryan, Freeman (and he lost 17 pounds)- all QBs that the Panthers face... and we also face Roethlisberger, Cam Newton, and Flacco. Ouch.

[pjfootballer]

You made me think about the QB's our secondary will face in 2012...

Manning (2), Vick (2), Romo sits to pee (2), Brees, Ryan, Freeman (and he lost 17 pounds)- all QBs that the Panthers face... and we also face Roethlisberger, Cam Newton, and Flacco. Ouch.

I hear ya, but get a load of this:

Redskins 13th overall defense, 12th against the pass, 18th against the run.

Panthers 28th overall defense, 24th against the pass, 25th against the run.

Other than their draft picks, who exactly did they bring in to help that defense. We brought in Jackson, C. Griffin, Merriweather, Jenkins (inj), Kuehl and M. Williams. They may not all pan out, but at least we tried. We also drafted 2 CBs and a LBer.

[worstSeat]

I don't get your point? This guy liked Cam Newton before preseason even started and looks good right about now. People also seem to like RGIII. Did you post the wrong article?

Yeah, I had the same reaction. Here are some quotes.

There are still many areas where his game needs to be polished, but he's looking much better than we saw prior to the draft. Though there are some suspect areas in his mechanics, he is a lot further along than I expected him to be at this point. The pure fact alone that he and Jimmy are trading off in camp for who looks better supports the idea that Cam is as NFL ready as anyone at the position at this point.

...

I don't want to give Cam too much effusive praise because there are still areas he needs to improve. Not everything about a young player is perfect, and while some will take this as condemnation of him as a player, please understand I'm as optimistic about his future as anyone. That being said, I'm not going to pretend that everything he touches turns to gold.

...

Honestly, the criticisms of him are minor compared to the areas he's excelling in. As I said before, it's remarkable how quick he's been catching on to the NFL game.

...

Cam Newton should be the Carolina Panthers' starting QB in 2011, that much is clear. He brings a confidence and ability to the offense that isn't possessed by another QB on the roster. There are still areas he needs to improve in, but as it stands he will learn those on the job. The time is now for Cam Newton to take over this offense, and I suspect he'll surprise some people in preseason.

He keeps saying he's dying to say Newton's great, but is trying to stay reasonable. Even then, he's not predicting anything near failure.

Hopeful Bob's not lying when he says that he's holding the ball now to learn his routes, and that in the game he'll be quicker when he needs to be. B/c there's really nothing beyond that negative coming out of Skins camp either. Bob's a smart guy with talent. I'm cautiously optimistic, just like this dude was on Newton last year.