Cam Newton lit up the NFL during his rookie season, notably as a dual threat, throwing for 4,000+ yards and running for another 706 yards with 14 rushing touchdowns.

It was a sick opening season, especially considering his growth was stunted by wasting three-plus months at home, courtesy of the asinine NFL lockout of 2011. Newton couldn’t even learn his new offense.

Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, who was a first-time head coach that season, has watched Newton mature into the sure-fire 2015 NFL MVP.

On Thursday, Rivera said he sees lots of Newton in America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston. Rivera noted how they’re “similar-type athletes,” how they extend plays with sound mobility and have comparable throwing strengths. Then came Rivera talking about Jameis’ maturity on film.

“You see little details in [Jameis’] game, the way he drops, the way he sets his feet, the way he tries to read coverage, the way he’s trying to look off coverages, stuff like that. Those things you didn’t see early on,” Rivera said of Jameis. “You’d see him stare down a little bit more earlier on in his career. Now you’re starting to see him get back there, and be a prolific-style passer, where he’s in the pocket and going through his progressions.”

Man, Jameis has been getting extraordinary reviews from opposing coaches. After the Bucs-Rams game, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher was on SiriusXM NFL Radio just gushing about Jameis’ “toughness” repeatedly. Jameis was belted 11 times in St. Louis, where he had a strong fourth quarter.

Hopefully, after his ugly showing against the Panthers in Week 4, the new Jameis that Rivera references will show up tomorrow.