Ron Rivera’s future with the Carolina Panthers is now liked to Cam Newton, and the hunch here is Newton is not going to be a franchise guy. He was awesome at Auburn, but you can’t help but have the nagging sense that he was a college star in the mold of Vince Young at Texas.

Young was a better runner an Newton is certainly a better thrower. But Carolina’s needs across the board are just so great that a different player seemed in order. The move relegates Jimmy Clausen to the bench and basically tells you what the franchise thinks of his potential.

Thanks – but no thanks.

Still, Carolina needs help on defense. Da’Quan Bowers of Clemson saw his draft stock plummet, but Marcel Dareus of Alabama is clearly an elite defensive lineman, and those players are hard to find. Dareus at least will be a productive NFL player, and there  are no guarantees on Newton.

One scout told profootballtalk.com that Newton looked “terrible” at the NFL combine. And the Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted a scout in December as saying he thought Newton had terrible mechanics and was several years from being a productive NFL quarterback. That scout didn’t see Newton going in the first round.

As for whether he had anything to say to his critics, Newton said Thursday, “I really don’t. I understand that they have a job to do and I have a job to do as well. And I understand that today everybody is not going to stop (criticizing) and say `that’s Cam, he’s the No. 1 pick, leave him alone’, more than anything the flood gates have opened officially. I’m just going to do what I can control.”

Obviously, the Panthers are believers. If he’s great, it was a bold choice. If he’s never a winning quarterback, it’s a pick that will haunt Carolina for a long time.