Interesting observation from a DT who once played for Jon Gruden — and was in the room when Gruden did his infamous little QB chalk-talk with Cam Newton. Here’s what Hovan told WQYK-AM when asked to compare Newton to top NFL QBs:
They know how to read coverages. The first and second audible or the third audible, where to go when the defense presents looks to them. And I don’t feel in a pressure situation that Cam can make those checks right now. If he was under Jon Gruden, if Jon Gruden was his head coach, he would definitely red shirt. If you are going to put him out there — first of all, Carolina’s offensive line, they pretty much only have Jordan Gross right now. He’s a left tackle and was drafted in the first round. If you put him in there with a suspect offensive line you are going to get the kid killed. Yeah, he can run… …but you can only run for so long. They are going to hunt this kid down. I don’t feel he is ready for the NFL level yet. Does he have the intangibles? Athletically, yes he does. But this is just a complex game when you go to the NFL level, especially at the quarterback position. You have to be ready to make those checks at the line of scrimmage. I don’t feel like he is ready for that yet.
See, for two years solid we’ve been screaming about the iffy state of the Panthers’ OL. No where has the unwillingness to spend in the FA market — or keep vets around — hurt Carolina more than in OL depth. You also wonder if some of those recent WR draft pick whiffs could’ve more profitably deployed to beef up the trenches. But that is past.
We are still right back to the fact that the Panthers lack enough NFL starter-quality bodies to compete in their league.
