Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll really likes his quarterback, Russell Wilson.
"He has done everything you could possibly want him to do," Carroll said in a conference call with Charlotte media.
Carroll also really likes Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who is leading what Carroll calls a "really cool" team in Carolina.
"He's just a really, really talented and tremendously fit football player," Carroll said. "We couldn't have more respect for a guy's ability than we do for him.
"I've been watching him all along because I'm fascinated with the talent he has and his ability to control games. He made those plays in game one of his career and he's still making those plays. He can do everything."
Wilson and Newton are often compared, contrasted and grouped together as part of this new wave of young, dual-threat quarterbacks that are having instant success in the NFL.
In two seasons, Newton has thrown for more yards and run for more yards than any quarterback in NFL history. Wilson tossed 26 touchdown passes and led the Seahawks to a playoff victory as a rookie in 2012.
In their lone head-to-head matchup last season, Wilson and the Seahawks defeated Newton and the Panthers 16-12 at Bank of America Stadium in Week 5.
The two star quarterbacks have a little bit of familiarity with each other but ample respect for one another.
"Russell is an unbelievable player," Newton said. "He is an unbelievable guy. I know he's a warrior."
Wilson said, "(Cam's) got a lot of ability. I love watching him play. He's a great kid and a great person just to be around. He's got so much personality, and it helps his football team."
The running dimension both quarterbacks provide also helps their teams, although they do it in different ways with Newton standing six inches taller and almost 40 pounds heavier than Wilson.
"The fact that they have the dimensions to run the football after the play breaks down has always been the most difficult factor for a defense to defend," Carroll said. "It's so unpredictable. Both of those guys do that and create another scenario by the way they can run. They may look like they are going down, and the next thing you know they gain 20 yards and it's first down.
"That's the element they add to the game that makes them special and so successful. That's the reason they can run big offenses and put up huge yards, because they keep the game alive more than some other guys. They couldn't be more opposite in their physical nature."
