Yeah this would be a valid point if in fact Cam was being asked to do normal from the pocket QB things. Instead they base the entire offense off his running ability and do heavy play action into long developing deep plays. He's had top 2 highest percentage of throws going 20+ yards in the air for multiple seasons now and in the last season he threw it 20+ yards more often than he threw passes behind the line of scrimmage (13.83% to 13.38%). Not only that, he was dead last in percentage of throws from beyond the line of scrimmage to 5 yards out (19.05%) which is where QBs throw the lions share of their passes (30.31% was the median). Completion percentage totals are so blatantly inflated by where you're throwing the ball (Sam Bradford set a completion record last season while throwing the ball less than 5 yards 62.13% of the time), and if they weren't we'd have to consider that maybe Alex Smith (56.33% <5 yards) or Kirk Cousins (53.15% <5 yards) and the many other checkdown masters are good actually and not just hamstringing their offenses.
Ultimately we don't know if Cam can consistently win from the pocket because he's never been in a situation which allows him to succeed as purely a passer despite the fact that his passing ability is good enough that he can carry a season the way he did in 2015. This is why in the Super Bowl of that season Cam had to drop back and wait for these dumbass long plays to develop and just get hit by great pass rushers rather than the offense calling plays that develop quickly and give him options to throw to which would mitigate the pass rush.
Spot on lol. I'm impressed that you know this much about the Panthers' offense.
The reasons as to why Cam's comp % is so low is for those reasons. He rarely throws short passes (in comparison to league average), throws deep quite a lot (and he does have elite deep accuracy, for deep passing standards), all of which would naturally lead to a lower comp %, no matter which QB is asked to do these things. Acurracy =/= comp %. Drops also really don't help, Panthers had one of the worst drop
percentages (not
drops themselves, because the Panthers pass among the least of all NFL teams, Panthers offense is very run-heavy as you all know). Really, all I have to say about the matter is that Ted Ginn was his #1 in 2015, see his OT drop vs. the Colts during the MNF game.
Honestly, Cam will never be an "elite" QB by typical QB standards. He doesn't have excellent passing skills, his frame is atypical for NFL QBs, he can't make some throws Brady or Rodgers will throw. However,
he's really good at what he's specifically asked to do in his offense. That's why we're so high on him and we day he's a great QB. The effect McCaffrey and Samuel can have on this offense is something I'm looking forward to watch. But my biggest hope is that he can stay healthy this year behind a line that looks miles ahead of anything we had last year.