1st Pick of the Draft , Cam Newton?

Well I was planning on writing my first "Recliner QB Book Review" today, but since I cannot find the book right now (stupid painkillers make me forget where I put things, but they also make me feel really good so I can't complain to much) to review some of my notes and key points, I have decided to switch gears. 

Right now there is a lot of talk about the Panthers taking Cam Newton #1, the first notice I saw of it was a tweet by @EvanSilva saying that this is the weekend that everybody moves Cam Newton to the top of their mock drafts.  Me....I just don't get it.  As I have previously stated in my other posts, why make him (or any QB in this draft) the #1 pick and the highest paid QB in league history IF there are questions (and their are big questions on all the QB's out there).  Why potentially set your franchise back 5+ years?  Yes, I understand that he could be a "one-in-a-generation" player,  but you have to weigh the risk vs reward here.  While many so called "draft experts" label Cam as a better, more accurate, slightly more athletic Vince Young (I think they only make that comparison because people seem to compare all black QB's to each other and all white RB's to each other) I see him as a more athletic Ben Roethlisberger.  They are both big and hard to bring down, can make throws on the run, with the big difference is Roethlisberger was considered a solid drop back passer while Cam is not.  For me, the biggest knocks on Cam are his ability to read defenses and call appropriate audibles, master the NFL playbook, go through his progressions, and seeing the whole field.  Those are fairly big on field concerns for a guy being labeled as a potential top 10 pick; much less a #1 overall pick. 

Now onto the other concerns I have about the kid.  We all know about his dad trying to sell him to the highest bidder, while that may not necessarily reflect poorly on Cam, the fact that his dad is the leader of his entourage and seemingly involved in every single decision he makes is troubling.  How many people are going to have influence over him at the next level, influence that will take precedence over what his coaches, teammates, and trainers say?  That is what truly concerns me, that he will bring his own "support system" with him and not rely on the ones that the NFL can provide that have been proven to work, with all the controversy surrounding him throughout his college career it is obvious his current "support system" has failed miserably.  Many people bring up his time at Florida as a "red flag" on his college career, but me, I am not holding that against him.  I think that we all make numerous mistakes between the ages of 16-20.  I know I did, the main difference between Cam Newton and myself (along with thousands of other teenagers) is that because he was in the spotlight his mistakes were highlighted, amplified, and he got caught.  I know that if I had gotten caught in hundreds of the stuff I did, I would have been labeled as a "bad, troubled, horrible kid".  Luckily for me I outgrew those younger testosterone, bulletproof days; and have grown into a respectable (at least in my opinion) and productive member of society.  I would have hated to see how bad I would have acted at his age if I would have had everything handed to me on a silver platter, been told that I was untouchable, the next "big" thing in a major college sports program. 

So really, Cam Newton has huge potential upside at the next level, but he also has some of the biggest risks associated with any QB or really any draft prospect also.  Do I think that he deserves to fall to the middle rounds, no.  Do I think that his potential is worthy of a top 15 pick, no (this isn't the NBA, even though I feel some teams draft like it is).  I think that any team considering him needs to heavily evaluate not only Cam's years at Blinn Junior College, but also his year at Auburn, and do not look to far back because we all made mistakes at a young age, lets not hold his teenage years against him, we all made stupid mistakes.  In fact, lets take this time to not "pigeon hole" anybody that you know (kid, friend, employee, student, young adult, niece nephew, grandchild, yourself, etc) because of mistakes that they may have made when they were younger (or are making now), as a society we should strive to give everybody the same 2nd chances that we give athletes (i.e. Donte Stallworth, Michael Vick, Leonard Little, Ben Roethlisberger, etc).  And most importantly Cam needs to be evaluated on what he has done on the field, and how dedicated will he be to fix his flaws and not try to rely on his God given athletic skills only at the NFL level.

FYI I think that teams that should be looking at him are teams that have a QB for the next 1-2 years and have time to develop him (of course stashing a 1st round pick on your roster for 1-3 years goes against the potential short term 1st round contracts I talked about in an earlier post on rookie wage scale)

Teams that initially come to mind are:  Cincinnati Bengals (if Carson Palmer can be talked into coming back for 1 or more years), Seattle Seahawks (if Matt Hasselback is resigned), Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins.  But with those teams you need to have a good veteran QB for him to learn from, a solid coaching staff, and a good steady front office (so that obviously that nixes a few of the teams I have listed). 

Doug Free is "Free" to leave the Cowboys

Ok, I know I need some work in the headline department, but with the deadline passing for teams to use the "Franchise tag" on players I was very surprised to see that the Cowboys did not tag Doug Free.

Doug Free was drafted in the 4th round (122nd overall) in the 2007 draft out of Northern Illinois.  He barely played at all (partially due to a back injury) until 2009, in that year he came in at right tackle and played the last 7 games of the regular season for Marc Colombo after he broke his leg.  While offensive line play largely goes unnoticed, everyone noticed when the Cowboys lined up against the Vikings in that playoff game.  Colombo was back off the injured list from his broken leg and even though he hadn't played in weeks, and Doug Free was doing an exceptional job at RT, the Cowboys still started Colombo over him.  In that game Colombo was apparently not fully recovered because I believe he gave up no less than 3 sacks and 4-5 QB hurries against the Viking's 2nd best defensive end (Ray Edwards).  Somebody with more time than me can check those stats.  Doug Free does not get a free pass for that game though because Flozell Adams went out early with a calf injury and Free replaced him at left tackle and he struggled with Jared Allen.  I cut him some slack since he had been playing on the opposite side with different techniques for the majority of the season and it is difficult to come in and play the opposite side against one of the premier pass rushers in the league. After the season the Cowboys had seen enough of Doug Free and how good he could be to release Flozell Adams and move Free to the 2nd most important position on the field, Left Tackle, protecting the franchise QB's blind side.

While the 2010 season was a huge disappointment for the Cowboys and especially the offensive line, the one bright spot was Doug Free.  He was the anchor and most reliable part of the Cowboys offensive line, and he was doing it at the most important position.  If you look at the rest of their offensive line it goes something like this:
Left Guard-Kyle Kosier - 2nd best lineman last year, 32 years old, very good pulling guard, contract expired, has trouble staying healthy, if they cannot get Logan Mankins (must be new CBA first) and don't draft instant help then they should sign him to a 1-year "prove you can stay healthy" deal.
Center-Andre Gurode - 32 years old, earned a Pro Bowl berth based on reputation, has declined rapidly the past 2 seasons.  I believe he is still a good center and that his decline is largely based on having to help Kosier's replacements at LG and constantly having to help Leonard Davis on the other side of him because Davis is constantly getting beat.
Right Guard-Leonard Davis - 32 years old, looks to be overweight the last 2 seasons and not worth the big money that he is due anymore.  Whether its weight or just getting old, Davis's problem is he gets beat off the line consistently.  Against the 4-3 defenses the 3-technique is past him and in the backfield before he even gets out of his stance.  The only thing he does good anymore is head on blocking when the guy is right in front of him.
Right Tackle-Marc Colombo - 32 years old, to slow getting off the line, it looks like all the injuries he has had in his career are finally catching up to him.  I don't see much use for Colombo anymore on the Cowboys, he is to slow to play tackle and I do not think he is strong or big enough to play guard.  They need to cut their losses.

Back to the original reason I started this post, why not place the franchise tag on Doug Free?  He plays the second most important position on the offense, is young at only 27 years old, just coming into his prime.  When I compare him to the other top notch young LT's in this league I only see Cleveland's Joe Thomas as being definitely better.  I see him being on the same level as Miami's Jake Long (maybe a little better) and he is definitely better than the Raven's Michael Oher.  The only reason he is not a bigger name is because he was drafter in the 4th round and they are all 1st round picks.  Many of you may be thinking "they did not franchise him because of the $$$ it would take".  Well the franchise tag for O-linemen this year is about $10 million which is a good number for a franchise left tackle, and just because they franchise him does not mean they have to pay him all that.  It just means that if he leaves the Cowboys get 2 first round draft picks and they have the right to work out a long term contract with him.  Now it looks like they are going to let him hit the open market where he will be the #1 free agent offensive lineman and there are plenty of teams that will pay a lot of money to have a true franchise left tackle protecting the face of their franchise.  Of course Jerry Jones will probably beat any deal out there, but why risk it, why would you let someone have the opportunity to run the price up?  Franchise left tackle's don't walk through the door every day....

What will probably happen is the Cowboys will tender him with the highest tender, meaning he can negotiate with other teams and the Cowboys have the right to match any offer he receives.  If they do not match the offer then they will receive a 1st & 3rd round draft pick as compensation, while that seems like a lot, look at the Cowboys history of drafting and developing offensive lineman....its bad.  The last homegrown offensive lineman that was any good was Larry Allen, next is Andre Gurode and it took a long time for him to develop and he has only had 1 or 2 real good years.  Cowboys fans better hope that Doug Free is not allowed to go 'Free"....yea it was a bad pun