Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton's Full Statistical Projections for Rookie Season

If anyone, and I mean anyone, sits and tells you that they predicted before the season that one Cameron Newton would pass for over 800 yards in his first two NFL starts, you should immediately grab a hand full of baby powder and…well you know the rest.

Newton has simply been amazing the first two weeks of his young NFL career.

Last week against the Arizona Cardinals, Newton tossed 422 passing yards and this week against the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, he threw for 432 yards. If I remember how to count correctly (I did watch the Sesame Street 20^th Anniversary Special on Netflix this morning), that’s 854 passing yards in two weeks.

Jebus, that’s a lot of passing yards, word to my man Homer Simpson.

Newton has thrown for some many yards that he’s set an NFL record. He’s the first player in NFL history to record two back-to-back 400-yard passing games in a squad’s first two games.

Killa Cam, his affectionate and fitting nickname, is the only NFL player to start his career with two 400-yard passing games.  

My man has nearly 900 passing yards in two weeks. That’s just insane.

Now I know that the NFL is set up for offenses to succeed and for quarterbacks to have big number days, but rookies don’t do this. Not this type of rookie with this type of skill set and this type of talent.

Nah, no, and nope; Cam Newton did not just light up Lambeau Field for over 400 yards. That wasn’t Newton out there on that field, couldn’t be. Newton was expected to take the slow route to NFL success. Maybe hold the clipboard for a little while and learn to stand in the pocket and pass the ball like a real NFL quarterback.

Well, my sarcasm may be well-noted throughout this piece, but Newton’s success isn’t without concern.

He did toss three interceptions against the the Packers and while he’s throwing the ball all over the field, he’s relying on Steve Smith, check downs and running backs. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but Newton will have to add some variety to his game.

I truly thought that Newton would have about 200 passing yards, three picks and maybe one touchdown.

He doubled the passing yards but I was right about the turnovers.

Progress is a slow process and Cam still has to pay his dues.

But while we’re all breaking our ankles to jump on the Cam Newton bandwagon, allow me to get our crutches ready, because you’ll need them after you jump off the bandwagon when it gets a few flat tires.

Cam Newton will come back to earth eventually and that may start in a couple of weeks when he travels to Chicago to face the Bears and former Carolina Panthers player Julius Peppers.  

We should expect big things from Newton, but maybe temper them a little after his first two weeks.

So, what exactly should we see from the big fella? Let’s take a look

Passing Yards: 3,034

I think its fairly feasible to believe that Newton will top 3,000 passing yards this season. I think he will have a significant slow down in production, probably starting next week when Carolina faces the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Not saying that the Jags will stop Newton, but teams will have two weeks of game film on him. They’ll start to catch on to his tendencies and his favorite targets.  

He may not crash and burn, but that fall will be a little hard. Look for Newton to have heavier passing days in terms of yards, but he’ll also pepper in some disappointing ones as well.

Rushing Yards: 560

With Newton relying on his legs to get him out of trouble as the season progresses, his rushing numbers should improve.

Newton only has 71 yards through two games, and with that pace, he should get over 500 rushing yards. If he does have to rely on his legs more, that number could jump to 700 yards this season.

Total Touchdowns: 25

I think he’ll throw about 19 or 20 touchdowns and have single-digit rushing scores.

Newton can still move with his legs and when teams start to take those passing lanes and targets away, I’m sure he’ll start to rely more heavily on his legs.

There is nothing wrong with Newton having a built-in backup plan, and if he has to use his legs to get him out of trouble, then I say go ahead and do so.

Interceptions: 17

Newton will have double digit interceptions and that number could climb to 20. That’s not really a bad thing for a rookie, but no way can Newton continue to put up numbers where he attempts 46 passes and not throw buckets of interceptions.

That number will decrease over time but no way, I repeat, no way will Killa Cam keep this up without turning the ball over multiple times.

QB Rating: 78.4

As of right now, Newton’s quarterback rating is 89.1. Not bad for the rookie, but expect that number to decrease.

Newton had three picks and he’ll have more. He’ll also have more touchdowns, but that rating will suffer some weeks.

Now, don’t get me twisted in thinking that I’m just throwing a wet towel on Newton’s performance thus far. He has balled out of control and he deserves to be praised for playing so well.

But for anyone to believe that Newton has mastered this game or that he will lead the Panthers to the playoffs this season, you sir, or madam, are delusional.