Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is running at a record pace.
Newton will become the first quarterback in NFL history to attempt at least 200 passes and rush 140 times in a season if he continues on his pace of 9.1 rushes a game, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Newton already has eclipsed 200 pass attempts with 246. He's rushed 73 times for 343 yards, which ranks 31st in the NFL but first among quarterbacks.
The most rushing attempts Newton has had in his previous four seasons was 127 in 2012.
So this begs the question: Is Newton running too much?
There was a time last season when Carolina coach Ron Rivera thought so. He expressed concern about the injury risk his franchise quarterback faced if he continued to run at a high rate.
Rivera re-iterated that again this year after Newton carried 14 times for 35 yards in the opener at Jacksonville. He said six to eight carries a game would be preferable with two of three of those sneaks, two zone reads and a couple of scrambles. But with Newton fully recovered from 2014 surgery to repair his left ankle, Rivera and offensive coordinator Mike Shula finally have come to grips with letting Newton be who he is.
Newton is calling an audible 30 to 40 percent of the time, up from previous seasons. He's getting more designed rushes than ever out of the read option. It's great news for fantasy owners and bad news for Jonathan Stewart owners, but there's always a risk of injury if Cam keeps up this pace. As long as he continues to be smart about his running, he'll continue to produce for fantasy owners.
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