Cam Newton underwent shoulder surgery in January, and around the time there were some worrying things being put out there about his recovery process. Owner David Tepper said back then, ""If you told me that [Newton] took a year off and could be fully recovered and that's what it took, why wouldn't you do that?" It raised concerns about when Newton would be back on the field.
But things sound a lot better now, with this report that Newton will throw in all quarterback drills at Panthers minicamp this week. Considering it's only mid June, there doesn't seem to be any worries that Newton will be fine for training camp and the preseason.
Certainly, the shoulder was a problem the second half of last season. Newton was having a strong first half; Carolina was putting up some of the league's better passing numbers the first eight games. He threw 15 TDs and just 4 interceptions. Only eight teams had a higher passer rating.
| TEAM PASSING PRODUCTION, FIRST HALF 2018 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
| New Orleans | 76.2 | 2390 | 18 | 1 | 120.7 |
| LA Chargers | 67.2 | 2244 | 19 | 3 | 116.5 |
| Kansas City | 65.6 | 2526 | 26 | 6 | 115.3 |
| Atlanta | 70.8 | 2705 | 19 | 3 | 114.2 |
| LA Rams | 67.5 | 2437 | 17 | 5 | 112.2 |
| Seattle | 66.1 | 1791 | 18 | 5 | 108.6 |
| Minnesota | 70.7 | 2521 | 16 | 4 | 102.5 |
| Philadelphia | 69.5 | 2254 | 14 | 3 | 101.6 |
| Carolina | 67.4 | 1906 | 15 | 4 | 101.0 |
| Houston | 64.1 | 2176 | 15 | 7 | 98.1 |
| New England | 67.5 | 2200 | 16 | 7 | 97.6 |
| Miami | 65.3 | 1947 | 16 | 8 | 97.3 |
| Green Bay | 60.3 | 2597 | 15 | 2 | 97.1 |
| Chicago | 64.2 | 1949 | 16 | 7 | 96.1 |
| Indianapolis | 65.6 | 2187 | 23 | 8 | 95.9 |
| Tampa Bay | 65.5 | 2974 | 23 | 17 | 95.6 |
| Oakland | 71.9 | 2206 | 10 | 8 | 94.3 |
| Pittsburgh | 64.6 | 2582 | 16 | 7 | 94.1 |
| Detroit | 67.1 | 2125 | 14 | 7 | 94.0 |
| Cincinnati | 63.9 | 2141 | 17 | 8 | 93.3 |
| NY Giants | 68.4 | 2434 | 9 | 6 | 92.7 |
| Washington | 63.5 | 1867 | 9 | 3 | 89.8 |
| Dallas | 62.6 | 1660 | 10 | 5 | 88.6 |
| Baltimore | 60.9 | 2331 | 13 | 6 | 85.6 |
| Tennessee | 65.0 | 1586 | 7 | 6 | 84.8 |
| San Francisco | 60.1 | 1970 | 13 | 10 | 84.6 |
| Denver | 64.0 | 2138 | 11 | 10 | 84.5 |
| Jacksonville | 61.3 | 2177 | 11 | 9 | 81.2 |
| Cleveland | 55.7 | 1933 | 10 | 8 | 74.7 |
| NY Jets | 55.2 | 1705 | 11 | 10 | 74.5 |
| Arizona | 57.8 | 1472 | 7 | 10 | 67.5 |
| Buffalo | 53.7 | 1404 | 3 | 13 | 52.8 |
But things flipped around in the second half of the season, and Newton was trying to play through the shoulder injury (before ultimately being shut down) was a significant factor. In the final eight games, only nine teams were worse, in terms of passer rating. He threw only 9 TDs and just as many interceptions in six games before sitting out the final two.
| TEAM PASSING PRODUCTION, SECOND HALF 2018 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
| Seattle | 65.0 | 1657 | 17 | 2 | 113.3 |
| Kansas City | 66.4 | 2600 | 24 | 6 | 112.3 |
| Houston | 72.5 | 1989 | 11 | 2 | 108.1 |
| Cleveland | 68.2 | 2328 | 19 | 9 | 104.9 |
| Dallas | 71.6 | 2225 | 12 | 3 | 103.4 |
| New Orleans | 70.0 | 1784 | 15 | 6 | 102.4 |
| Atlanta | 68.0 | 2244 | 17 | 4 | 101.9 |
| Indianapolis | 68.8 | 2408 | 16 | 7 | 100.8 |
| Philadelphia | 71.5 | 2270 | 15 | 8 | 99.9 |
| New England | 64.2 | 2205 | 13 | 4 | 98.0 |
| Pittsburgh | 68.6 | 2592 | 19 | 10 | 96.9 |
| Minnesota | 69.4 | 1777 | 14 | 6 | 96.1 |
| Tennessee | 69.2 | 1669 | 9 | 6 | 95.1 |
| Chicago | 70.2 | 1798 | 12 | 7 | 94.6 |
| LA Chargers | 68.7 | 2072 | 13 | 9 | 94.1 |
| Oakland | 65.3 | 1851 | 9 | 2 | 93.0 |
| NY Giants | 62.2 | 1971 | 14 | 6 | 92.8 |
| Tampa Bay | 65.1 | 2384 | 13 | 9 | 92.3 |
| LA Rams | 62.6 | 2293 | 15 | 7 | 91.4 |
| San Francisco | 64.2 | 2277 | 13 | 10 | 90.8 |
| Green Bay | 62.3 | 2032 | 10 | 2 | 90.0 |
| Miami | 62.8 | 1362 | 10 | 5 | 87.9 |
| Carolina | 66.9 | 2165 | 13 | 12 | 85.8 |
| Detroit | 63.4 | 1719 | 8 | 5 | 82.7 |
| Baltimore | 58.6 | 1377 | 5 | 3 | 81.3 |
| Denver | 60.9 | 1792 | 8 | 5 | 79.7 |
| Cincinnati | 57.7 | 1428 | 10 | 5 | 79.5 |
| Jacksonville | 61.6 | 1254 | 4 | 4 | 76.0 |
| Buffalo | 54.9 | 1678 | 10 | 10 | 71.8 |
| NY Jets | 58.8 | 1699 | 7 | 9 | 71.7 |
| Arizona | 56.5 | 1412 | 8 | 8 | 70.4 |
| Washington | 58.3 | 1420 | 7 | 12 | 64.5 |
With Newton, you're also buying into the rushing production. Just maybe he'll run less, taking fewer hits and being more likely to stay healthy.
But he was putting up very good passing numbers when healthy last year, so that production is in play. If healthy, and this report suggests he will be, he could be a nice option at quarterback this season.
--Andy Richardson