The NFL Draft is rapidly approaching and word on the street is the Carolina Panthers are picking Cam Newton with the No. 1 overall pick. Obviously the controversy surrounding Newton combined with his "lack of experience" and style of play that "won't translate" into the NFL makes him an incredibly risky pick. The "Almighty" Mel Kiper has mocked Newton at number one and analysts and writers have followed suit in their predictions. Whether or not they agree with Kiper (or whether Kiper agrees with the pick himself) is irrelevant, because picking Cam Newton number one overall is the right pick.
When Andrew Luck said he was staying for his senior season at Stanford University back in January, the Carolina Panthers were deemed the biggest losers. If you ask me though, they won big time. Yes, Luck has all of the tools that scouts drool over, but what's stopping him from becoming the next Matt Leinart, Jake Locker or Brian Brohm? All of them were projected as very high draft picks, yet they all returned for their senior season and their draft stock plummeted. Leinart and Brohm have contributed nothing at the professional level, and Locker is no longer the prized prospect he once was. The jury is still out on Locker, but who's to say Leinart or Brohm would have played differently had they left college early? What changed so profoundly in their games that they would have been Pro Bowlers after their junior years but benchwarmers after their senior years? I'm not saying Luck is in the same mold as those three, but then again I'm not saying he isn't.
That's the difference between Luck and Newton: there is no mold for which Newton would fit. He is truly a one-of-a-kind prospect; one that, if he fulfills his potential, could change a franchise forever. His on-field skills are reason enough to draft him first, but it's his intangibles that make him the guy the Panthers have to take. First off, he's a winner. I'll never understand why great college players who win on the big stage (Colt McCoy and basketball's Tyler Hansbrough are two recent examples) are passed over in drafts for other prospects with better "measurables". Are McCoy or Hansbrough Hall-of-Famers in their respective sports? Probably not, but they're better players than many of the guys drafted ahead of them. After finishing his last two seasons as a champion, I'd say he qualifies as a winner. Combine that winning aura with Newton's skills, and the selection becomes even more of a no-brainer for the Panthers.
Speaking of those Panthers, they could really use a player of Newton's caliber to become the undisputed face of their franchise. Consider this: Matt Moore, Brian St. Pierre, Vinny Testaverde and David Carr have all started games at quarterback for the Panthers since 2007. At the most important position in sports, those guys just aren't going to cut it. Even the guy who took them to a Super Bowl, Jake Delhomme, has become something of a joke after his horrible stint with the Cleveland Browns last year. This pick could be really similar to the Michael Vick selection in 2001; no matter how you feel about Vick, his skills put the Falcons on the map and positively effected the franchise during his tenure there. Newton may not be as explosive as Vick (but come on, nobody is), but he has the aforementioned winning attitude and swagger to compensate for that, not to mention All-World ability.
I really can't think of anything else to say about Cam Newton that hasn't already been said. Once football returns to our lives, you'll have the chance to watch him yourself. And once he brings respect back to the Panthers franchise, you'll know what I mean.
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