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Panthers: Team should wait until 2019 for accurate offensive assessment

By Danny Jaillet

NEW ORLEANS, LA - DECEMBER 03: Cam Newton #1 of the Carolina Panthers reacts during the first half of a game against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 3, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - DECEMBER 03: Cam Newton #1 of the Carolina Panthers reacts during the first half of a game against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 3, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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The Carolina Panthers should wait to determine “peaks and valleys”….

It is certainly a good goal for the Carolina Panthers to have. Whether or not they will execute it though is a different story. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner wants to help Cam Newton play more consistently, and it appears that is something the Carolina Panthers are going to work on.

Speaking to a news outlet on Thursday, Turner said that although Newton is one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League, he has stretches in between his stellar play where he struggles.

"“But in the middle of that, of a 16-game season, he has four or five games where that rating is not very good. And that, obviously, makes your average not as good as you’d like,” said Turner on Late Hits with Alex Marvez and former Panthers GM Bill Polian. “So what we’re going to try to work hard for is eliminate the peaks and the valleys and try to, on a weekly basis, make it more consistent. And I think that’ll help us, offensively, be more consistent and certainly will help him.”"

This in theory sounds very good. One of the problems Newton has had throughout the course of his career is playing at a high level all the time. Eliminating those peaks and valleys is something the team should definitely work on. If they can do that, Newton could become even better and cement himself as one of the top five quarterbacks in the league.

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However, one of the problems I have with this strategy for the upcoming season is that Cam Newton has an entirely new offense. This is going to present a bit of a judgement problem. How is the team going to be able to distinguish Newton’s normal peaks and valleys from the fact that there may be a learning curve within the offense that could lead to initial struggles? This is something that the team is going to have to figure out.

If anything, I would begin to judge Newton’s peaks and valleys in 2019. That gives the Carolina Panthers coaching staff and offense a full year to figure out what worked and what did not. That would be a great benchmark for everyone involved and would make for a much more effective assessment period. This season should be about learning the strengths and weaknesses of the offense and how Newton adjusts to them. It would not be fair to judge the peaks and valleys this year.

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It should be interesting to see what Turner and the offense can bring to the table. If it lives up to the hype,  it is going to be one heck of a year.

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