I get the difference between predicting Newton will go first and thinking he is the #1 prospect, but nobody is saying it is a bad pick, which I think it clearly is.
For instance, in Mayock's mock he does hedge a little but ultimately justifies the pick with the "if you have a shot at a potential franchise QB, you take it" reasoning. I just think the chances of him becoming worthy of a #1 pick (i.e. being a pro-bowl caliber QB) is about 5%, and for me that is not at all worth that pick and what they will have to pay him.
I was thinking the same thing this morning. I'm off today so I watched a ton of sports shows, and almost everybody is saying that Carolina should take Cam Newton. I felt like Will Farrell in Zoolander ("I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!!!"). I couldn't believe my ears. And a lot of people were saying things like, "You have to take Cam because if he's great you're regret it forever and you'll set the franchise back." WTF??? And if he can't remember anything past the #36...then what?
And Lax, great point on Vince Young. Vince Young was the greatest teammate when the team was winning and he was the QB. But they started losing, he became a petulant punk, because he wasn't used to it and couldn't handle it. And even worse - when they started winning but he wasn't the QB, he was bitching about that too.
Beware Carolina - you're giving up on a much more polished QB to take the new hotshot, but he still won't have a line, his center will still be snapping it to below his knees, and he still won't have anyone to throw to besides a petulant (and triple-teamed) Steve Smith. Oh, and he's never had to huddle up or go through a progression before in the face of a zone blitz. Have fun with that!