From current ESPN Barnwell piece about the 6 teams he thinks are most likely to take a nose-dive:
>>>>Norv Turner hasn't had many mobile quarterbacks, but he also hasn't shown any propensity for letting his quarterback run with the football. Turner has had only one quarterback run the ball more than 50 times in a season, and that was when Doug Flutie made 53 rushing attempts with the Chargers in 2001.
Newton has averaged more than 118 rushing attempts per season as a pro, and while Turner did incorporate some zone read concepts with
Teddy Bridgewater in Minnesota, Bridgewater is no Newton as a runner. Turner might improve Newton as a passer, of course, but it's a curious choice to have a quarterback with Newton's skill set and bring in an offensive coordinator who has spent virtually his entire pro career working with pocket passers.
Football Power Index still projects them to face the 10th-toughest slate in football. They won't be as good in close games, and the Panthers probably won't recover more than 63 percent of fumbles as they did last season, the fourth-highest rate in football. This is still going to be a competitive team, but it is more likely to come in around 8-8 or 9-7.<<<<
Thought I already heard that Carolina planned on getting back to more of a Cam '15 type of offense this season. Hope "BDN" is not going to insist on Newton being a pocket QB