Cam Newton played a key role for the Carolina Panthers last season as the NFC South champions came within a whisker of winning the Super Bowl title. In fact, Newton was voted the Most Valuable Player throughout the regular season as he recorded 296 completed passes from 495 attempts for 3,837 yards and an incredible 35 touchdowns. In addition, he rushed for 636 yards and 10 touchdowns, making him a major dual threat at the quarterback position.
If truth be told, Newton has it all. He can throw it deep, he can disguise fades, he can execute play action passes to perfection and he can rush – he is THE ultimate athlete. Does that make him the best quarterback in the National Football League though? Well, that’s up for discussion. Newton is one of the top four or five quarterbacks but does he rank above, say, Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers? It’s a very difficult call and one that is open to interpretation…
Newton’s athleticism and ability to create opportunities from next to nothing gives him a slight edge over his rivals at the quarterback position. Ultimately, the Panthers main man is a physical freak; he doesn’t look like a quarterback. That is what makes him such a potent weapon in the Carolina offense. Some signal callers suit one type of offense but Newton’s skillset would suit ANY offense in the NFL. You could put him onto the Jacksonville Jaguars roster and he would probably lead them to the AFC South title.
That’s how good he is. He makes difficult things look incredibly easy. Newton led the Panthers to the Super Bowl last season after a mediocre 2014 campaign, and you wouldn’t bet against him improving further next year. As of July 15th, bet365’s NFL betting markets price Carolina at 8/1 to go one better by winning the showpiece event next February. If Newton is at his very best, they could achieve their ultimate goal despite losing top-rated cornerback Josh Norman to the Washington Redskins in free agency.
Comparatively, Cam Newton just isn’t Tom Brady. Nor is he Aaron Rodgers or Ben Roethlisberger. The Panthers man is on the road to greatness but it would be foolish to claim that he is up there with the best quarterbacks in the business. If Newton can lead this Carolina side to consecutive Super Bowl appearances and regular spots in the postseason, then he could blossom into one of the top quarterbacks of the modern era. For now, though, he’s not there.
Last season, ‘Super Cam’ was easily the top-rated quarterback in the NFL, and rightly so. He was outstanding from the first game to the last, but he came up against one of the greatest defences in the modern era in the Super Bowl and came up short. The Carolina man is a fantastic player and deserved his MVP award for last season but he has a long way to go before he deserves to be classed in the same bracket as Tom Brady.
