We all weren’t quite sure what to expect from Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers during the 2011 No.1 draft pick’s first season in the NFL. He had dominated college football, leading Auburn to a national championship and picking up the Heisman Trophy along the way.
But as we know, that doesn’t always translate to success in the NFL.
For Newton though, it seemed to.
The 6’6 athletic quarterback was able to show that he could be successful in the NFL right out of the gate, even without the benefit of a complete offseason because of the strike that went on. All he did was lead the Panthers to five more wins than the previous season, set the all-time NFL quarterback rushing touchdown record, and throw for over 4,000 yards.
Needless to say, the expectations are high for Newton in 2012.
After going through his first full season, and now his first full offseason, we expect Newton to follow up his great rookie season with another good one in 2012. Obviously opposing defenses will be able to gameplan a bit more for him now, but Newton will be more prepared as well.
But will it be good enough for the Panthers to make the playoffs this season?
It just might be.
The problem though is that Carolina is in a very good NFC South division. Between the Atlanta Falcons, and the New Orleans Saints, the Panthers will have to find a way to take these two at the top of the division down. If Carolina is to make a run at the postseason, we could almost see three teams from this division making the postseason.
The Falcons have won 23 games the last two seasons while the Saints obviously won the Super Bowl just three seasons ago.
But the Panthers have gone from a bottom feeder, to one of the most exciting teams in the NFL to watch behind Newton. And if he can perform like he did last season, don’t be surprised to see the Panthers make a push for the playoffs and be right there contending at the end of the regular season.