Carolina Panthers Video: Watch Cam Newton Scoot Past Bengals for Rushing TD

Cam Newton's skills as a pro-style quarterback may be a work in progress for the Carolina Panthers, but at least he still has his legs.

The 2010 Heisman Trophy winner showed off his trademark mobility against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday, dashing out of the pocket and rolling over a defender on the way to the end zone for the first rushing touchdown of his young NFL career.

Granted, it was in the first quarter of a meaningless preseason game and Newton, the No. 1 overall pick of the Panthers in the 2011 NFL Draft, took a pretty nasty shot to the back at the end of it.

That being said, there's no reason to fault the rookie for making the best of a broken-down situation. It's not like Newton was getting much done with his arm, completing only six of his first 19 passing attempts of the game.

Clearly, if Newton's going to win the Panthers' starting quarterback gig over Jimmy Clausen, he'll have to do it on the ground rather than through the air, for now at least. First-year head coach Ron Rivera would have no good reason to give the first-string spot to a rookie like Newton, with his minimal passing proficiency and superior athleticism, unless he showed that he could actually make plays.

And make plays Cam did against the hapless Bengals. Notice how Newton is barely into the third step of his drop before he takes off for the end zone like he's back at Auburn.

Except, of course, that he's getting paid over the table this time.

With plenty of room to run, Newton ditches the pocket for a big patch of open turf to his right and, before you know, he's practically galloping past the pylon. Newton is but two yards from the end zone when one of the players in Cincy's secondary attempts to tackle the quarterback with his helmet, at which point Newton simply spins off to his left shoulder and dives for six points.

Let's see Jimmy Clausen pull that off.

Of course, the Panthers already gave running back DeAngelo Williams a boatload of money to carry the ball, but what the heck? Carolina isn't going to be any good this season, so they might as well hand the reins over to Newton and let him run for a while.

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