I think we can all agree that Cam Newton's passing hasn’t been very accurate in his first preseason games.

The Panthers believe that will come with time and experience. But, if they really are going to make Newton their opening-day starter -- and all indications are that’s the plan -- they need to take immediate advantage of the one thing Newton already does very well.

That’s run the ball. Check out this excellent Insider post by Chris Sprow. He’s got some incredible statistics that demonstrate just how special Newton is as a runner.

In his last preseason outing against Cincinnati, Newton tucked the ball and ran for a 16-yard touchdown. In the past four seasons, NFL quarterbacks have run for touchdowns of 15-plus yards an average of four times a year. Sprow did the math and it comes out to once in about 8,100 plays.

Also in that Cincinnati game, Newton had a 26-yard scramble. Last season, NFL quarterbacks combined 17 times to run 25 or more yards. That’s about once every 1,900 plays. Newton made both those plays within 15 minutes.

There’s a lot more where that came from, and the one thing the Panthers don’t need to do as they try to develop Newton’s passing skills is inhibit his ability to run. Through the years, there have been a lot of quarterbacks with good running ability who were discouraged from using it.

That’s understandable, because a lot of them were small and could get hurt in the open field. Newton is different. He’s bigger than defensive backs and roughly the same size as most linebackers.

He’s probably not going to get hurt running in the open field. If Newton’s going to get hurt, it likely will come on a play where he stays in the pocket too long and gets hit from the blind side by a defensive lineman.

There’s one way to avoid that. Let him run.