Cam Newton got signed late and many are wondering how long it will take him to learn the playbook. It can take up to three seasons for the average quarterback to learn a playbook.Two years for the average player on other teams.
Some may think okay just teach the other guys Cam's playbook. That would take a minimum of a year and would result in a lot of losses. Belichick is not trying to lose or he wouldn't of signed Cam. Plus If one plays madden, you probably think the offensive playbook is 5-10 sheets long. Dummies.com explains that's a massive underestimation of a playbook. Especially the Patriots playbook, which is supposed to be one of the most complicated.
Stack.com wrote "If anyone knows how to learn a playbook quickly, it's Jordan Palmer. An 8-year NFL veteran, Palmer exhibited an ability to quickly master a playbook, helping him play at the highest level. After a mid-season signing, he once learned the Tennessee Titans' playbook in two and a half days. He now works as a quarterback coach for players like Christian Hackenberg and Deshaun Watson."
Can Cam pick up the playbook that quick, maybe but will he be able to translate it to the field? Palmer says there's a difference between knowing your playbook and being able to execute it.
Palmer says "I see a difference between knowing something and owning something. My name is Jordan William Palmer—I'll never screw it up, I will never say 'um', I will never say it out of order. I own that information. A lot of quarterbacks play knowing the system but not owning it and if you don't own it, it slows down your process. The ball doesn't come out as quick. You're not as accurate. You're not as sure. When you watch the best quarterbacks play—Brady, Brees, Carson—they're not really reading stuff. They know the offense so well and they know the coverages so well, they're essentially just waiting for defenders to get out of the way so they can throw it."
Cam Newton has never been considered to have elite accuracy. While majority of fault might go to his teammates, This could be part of Newton's accuracy problem. Palmer goes on to say how a player approaches reading the playbook matters. He suggests that there's a right way and a wrong way.
Palmer continues, "The Bible, cookbooks and a playbook are all the same. The reason I lump them together is because we don't open those up and read them cover and cover. Most guys entering the league don't understand that principle. They just open up their playbook from the beginning and try to start learning everything."
Palmer worked a little with Stidham and I am sure it's something the Patriots teach their quarterbacks. The Patriots backups over the Belichick era have been highly rated.
Palmer goes on, "Don't look at anything until you own the formations," Palmer says. "The trick is to buy some checkers and write X,Y,Z,F,H,Q on them. Those are all the offensive skill positions. When I say Trips Right, you move those checkers into Trips Right. When I say Divide Left, you switch them around. Then you go Empty Right, then you go Full Left, then you go Twins Right. You just switch the checkers around over and over again. The way to learn a playbook is to turn the playbook into pictures in your mind."
"The second thing is concepts. You memorize concepts in terms of the end result—where people end up. Now, because you own the formations, you can start moving checkers around and you can run these concepts out of any formation. You're essentially learning more than what the playbook is."
With Newton's experience this should be where he enters the playbook stage. It all depends on how much he has soaked in during his nine years.
Palmer said, "If you don't learn the protections, you're going to get sacked and you're just not going to play very well. Every protection that a defense is trying to attack, they're trying to do one of three things. One, they're trying to get an offensive lineman to block nobody. Two, they're trying to get a mismatch on your running back—get them to block a D-lineman or something like that. Or three, they're trying to get two on your running back, have your running back be responsible for either the Mike or the Sam, and the Mike and the Sam both come. Understanding the intricacies of your protection will help you solve for those problems. The second part is, once you learn the protection, you need to figure out who the offensive linemen are responsible for. To know that, you have to figure out who your secondary blockers are. Is it a 7-man protection with a tight end and a running back? Or two running backs? Or is it a 6-man protection? And third, who's the quarterback responsible for? When you truly understand all of those things, you own the protections. Now it's just about calls and slides and adjustments."
Newton has been sacked 291 times in eight years and Ray Rauth pointed out in his live stream on Sportscastr.com that, " Newton has been the most hit quarterback." How much of this is from the players around Cam and how much is on Newton? Belichick has praised Newton but only time will tell.
Palmer goes on to say the order of learning a playbook. "One is formations, two is concepts, three is protections and four is just miscellaneous—shifts, motions, trick plays, dummy cadences, etc. That's all that other stuff.'
Depending on Newton's intelligence, he could already know the playbook. One can be certain that the Patriots adapted the playbook already for Stidham but the playbook should still be two thirds of Brady's.
Adapting a small portion helps veterans and returning players have to learn less, which should keep the Pats competitive. While allowing for What Newton and Stidham do best. Now that it's been laid out how long it can take, everything falls on Cam's intellect and if he's healthy enough to play.
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