Cam Newton: Will Carolina Panthers QB Be Serious MVP Candidate?

With his name already etched on this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year award, Cam Newton can turn his attention to loftier goals.

A win would be a nice start, but in the realm of personnel accolades, could NFL MVP be a real possibility?

Could Cam Newton be the first rookie to seriously challenge for the award since Earl Campbell in 1978?

Peep these five reasons why the budding superstar will at least remain a viable candidate for the award until season's end.

Voters Love a Good Story

Cam Newton's backstory reads like a dime novel. The junior college banishment, the pay-for-play imbroglio, the national championship, the icon-sized intentions inflated with hubris, the No. 1 overall selection, and now the stunning brilliance of his play—think voters aren't going to eat that up?

Newton didn't step out of wormhole to deliver two of the best performances in rookie quarterback history, he stepped out of one of the most scandalized, brilliant college careers of all time. Succeeding as he has in the glare of that singular spotlight will tantalize MVP voters all year long.

Sportswriters love to mold stars, and in Newton they have themselves the most perfect chunk of clay. Throwing a few MVP votes his way will only stoke the fires of immortality already raging.

Rookie Love

When voters cast their ballots for MVP, they love to assure themselves with phrases like "best ever" and "unprecedented," phrases that lend their vote historical gravitas.

Well, Cam Newton delivers plenty of that, and his assault on the rookie record books will allow folks to let their "once-in-a-generation" imaginations run wild.

Consider this: The record for rookie passing yards is 3,739; Newton is on pace for 6,832.

At his current pace he'll also threaten Peyton Manning's record for rookie passing touchdowns and Ben Roethlisberger's record for rookie completion percentage and rookie passer rating. If he brings home all four marks, voters will throw him a ton of love.

Remember that MVP voters always give attention to phenoms that live up to the hype immediately. LeBron James finished ninth in the MVP voting his rookie season, Larry Bird finished fourth his year and Albert Pujols finished fourth in 2001.

Great rookies hold a special place in voters' hearts, and Newton will benefit from that next-big-thing aura.

The Way He's Doing It

If the numbers aren't enough to impress you, pop in the tape.

Plays like this scramble and this jump-pass-turned-bomb are what have the NFL community buzzing about Cam Newton. The dude already has enough highlight plays to fill a season recap.

Newton doesn't just throw for 400 yards, he throws for 400 yards in ways never before seen. Through his growing pains, Newton will keep the public's—and the voters'—attention by popping up on SportsCenter's Top 10 list every Monday morning.

That kind of constant attention and awe should convert to votes when the sportswriters send in their ballots.

He's a Quarterback

Facts are facts. It's a quarterback's league.

Nowhere is that reality more apparent than in the MVP voting. A quarterback has won the AP NFL MVP award eight of the last 10 years.

Even more telling, Titans running back Chris Johnson didn't receive a single MVP vote the year he rushed for over 2,000 yards. In the past that would have been unconscionable. Now, it's the norm.

By virtue of playing the NFL's premier position, Newton has a great chance to stay in the MVP hunt. If he continues to rank among the top five in passing yards all season long, voters will give his candidacy a hard look.

That's the way of the league these days, and Newton is a star among stars at the most famous position in sports.

Nowhere to Go but Up

The playoffs seem a stretch for Cam Newton's Carolina Panthers. After an 0-2 start, somewhere between 6-10 and 8-8 looks like a reasonable landing spot for an improving Panthers team.

Usually a below .500 record precludes a player from MVP consideration. In order to be termed "valuable" a player usually must lead his team to the playoffs.

This isn't "usually."

In Newton's case, voters will draw a direct comparison between this year's Panthers and the team's miserable 2-14 campaign in 2010. Last year the Panthers finished dead last in points scored and total offense. Improvement and value are both relative terms, and on that scale, the bar will rest a lot lower for Newton.

This team can improve by six or seven wins and still not make the playoffs. If that is the case, and Newton plays a central part in that improvement, plenty of voters will consider the rookie for the NFL's top individual honor.