I like the fit of Cam Newton with the Patriots. With Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick, I think they’ll have a good feel for how to use him. And Newton still has plenty of good ball left.
Mostly it’s a matter of health. He’s had foot and shoulder injuries the last two years (he played in only two games last season). But when we last saw Newton healthy, he was playing the best ball of his career.
He was the league MVP back in 2015, of course. I’m not looking much at that year because it’s five years in the rearview mirror. He was a different style of player at that time, running for 10 touchdowns.
Newton isn’t as athletic now, but he’s probably a more knowledgeable, polished passer. In the first half of the 2018 (that was the last time Newton was at full health) he was putting up the best passing numbers of his career. He completed 67 percent of his passes in those eight games. Back in his MVP season, he completed under 60 percent. The Panthers brought in Norv Turner in 2018, and he helped to turn Newton into a more efficient passer, with more willingness to complete short balls.
Using typical fantasy scoring, Newton at the halfway point of the 2018 season was the 3rd-most productive quarterback in the league, trailing only Patrick Mahomes and Matt Ryan. Newton threw 15 touchdowns versus only 4 interceptions in those eight games, with another 4 TDs rushing.
Newton’s season that year changed in a Thursday night game at Pittsburgh. T.J. Watt delivered a big hit that messed up Newton’s shoulder. After that point, he threw as many interceptions (9) as touchdowns, and could no longer throw the ball deep.
I don’t have any special insights on Newton’s health, but I have no reason to believe he’s not healthy now. He’s also in a contract year, looking to re-establish himself as one of the game’s elite quarterbacks (before signing somewhere next spring for over $35 million per year).
Lots of good quarterbacks out there, of course, but Newton in my eyes looks like a candidate to be one of the first 10 chosen. To me, he looks pretty similar as a prospect to quarterbacks who are coming off the board about 10 quarterbacks in – Carson Wentz, Matthew Stafford.
| QUARTERBACKS (first half of 2018) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pct | P Yds | TDP | Int | R Yd | TDR | F Pts |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 66% | 2,526 | 26 | 6 | 119 | 2 | 254.2 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 71% | 2,685 | 19 | 3 | 67 | 2 | 229.0 |
| Cam Newton, Car. | 67% | 1,893 | 15 | 4 | 342 | 4 | 212.9 |
| Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 65% | 2,560 | 16 | 7 | 48 | 2 | 208.8 |
| Andrew Luck, Ind. | 66% | 2,187 | 23 | 8 | 63 | 0 | 207.7 |
| Kirk Cousins, Min. | 71% | 2,521 | 16 | 4 | 78 | 1 | 203.9 |
| Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 64% | 1,949 | 16 | 7 | 302 | 2 | 203.7 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 76% | 2,336 | 18 | 1 | 25 | 2 | 203.3 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 61% | 2,542 | 15 | 1 | 124 | 0 | 199.5 |
| Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 64% | 2,176 | 15 | 7 | 230 | 1 | 197.8 |
| Jared Goff, LAR | 68% | 2,425 | 17 | 5 | 62 | 0 | 195.5 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 67% | 2,200 | 16 | 7 | 29 | 2 | 188.9 |
| Philip Rivers, LAC | 67% | 2,236 | 19 | 3 | -1 | 0 | 187.7 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 63% | 2,102 | 17 | 8 | 41 | 0 | 177.2 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, T.B. | 66% | 1,793 | 17 | 7 | 103 | 1 | 174.0 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 66% | 1,791 | 18 | 5 | 118 | 0 | 173.4 |
| Blake Bortles, Jac. | 60% | 2,021 | 10 | 8 | 261 | 1 | 173.2 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 68% | 2,111 | 14 | 6 | 49 | 0 | 166.5 |
| Joe Flacco, Balt. | 61% | 2,259 | 12 | 6 | 45 | 0 | 165.5 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 72% | 2,198 | 10 | 8 | 41 | 1 | 160.0 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 63% | 1,660 | 10 | 5 | 247 | 2 | 159.7 |
| Case Keenum, Den. | 64% | 2,110 | 10 | 10 | 35 | 1 | 155.0 |
| Eli Manning, NYG | 68% | 2,377 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 0 | 152.8 |
| Carson Wentz, Phil. | 71% | 1,788 | 13 | 2 | 89 | 0 | 150.3 |
| Alex Smith, Wash. | 64% | 1,867 | 9 | 3 | 119 | 1 | 147.3 |
| Sam Darnold, NYJ | 55% | 1,705 | 11 | 10 | 61 | 1 | 141.4 |
| Marcus Mariota, Ten. | 67% | 1,270 | 5 | 5 | 217 | 2 | 117.2 |
| Baker Mayfield, Clev. | 58% | 1,471 | 8 | 6 | 91 | 0 | 114.7 |
| C.J. Beathard, S.F. | 60% | 1,252 | 8 | 7 | 69 | 1 | 107.5 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 65% | 1,181 | 6 | 10 | 109 | 1 | 100.0 |
| Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 66% | 972 | 8 | 5 | 91 | 0 | 89.7 |
| Josh Allen, Buff. | 54% | 832 | 2 | 5 | 155 | 3 | 83.1 |
| Josh Rosen, Ariz. | 56% | 1,072 | 5 | 6 | 48 | 0 | 78.4 |
| Brock Osweiler, Mia. | 64% | 895 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 70.5 |
—Ian Allan