Courtesy: Chuck Burton/AP
As fantasy football drafts have come to a close with the awful preseason, the NFL season is now underway; the Dallas Cowboys and defending champions, the New York Giants, blessed the fans with a fabulous season-opener. After the Cowboys defeated their division rivals, the media’s football coverage went into full swing. ESPN’s Jeffri Chadiha wrote an extremely interesting piece, where he listed ten NFL players whose teams cannot do without them. Making the top of the list was Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton.
Being only a second-year quarterback, it is quite a compliment for Newton to rank so high on the list, however, he has certainly earned the honor. Newton had a remarkable rookie campaign, having over four-thousand passing yards, rushing for over seven-hundred yards, and making thirty-five touchdowns. Coming off of a horrendous 2011 season, the Carolina Panthers, essentially last year’s number 1 pick, looked to rebuild their team with a young quarterback, who just happened to be Cam Newton.
Newton caught several teams by surprise, but some would say that it was just luck. However, “luck” doesn’t exist in the NFL. Newton is, by no doubt, the real deal. What is quite extraordinary about Newton is that he played 16-games; playing an entire NFL season as a mobile quarterback on such a horrible team is an accomplishment in itself. Case-in-point, there is nothing that Michael Vick cannot do on a football field, except stay on it. As much of a pain it is to attack the poster boy for restructuring an image after coming from hell and back, Vick lacks nothing, but durability. Vick is an explosive, talented, shifty, swift, exciting, inspiring, and admirable player, however, no one would tab him as durable.
In contrast, Newton has the opportunity to ascend in the league’s ranks as being one of the best players simply because he has showed that he is the NFL’s most durable man behind center after just one season. Although there are other quarterbacks that played 16 games last season, Newton was the only one to rush over seven-hundred yards. He also rushed for 14 touchdowns on 126 carries; those are running back numbers. It could be legitimately argued that Newton plays 2 positions and plays them well based on his stats.
Courtesy: takingit2thehouse.com
It cannot be stressed enough that Newton has also been able to remain injury-free, which is paramount in every sport, but no more than in football. He represents a new breed of mobile quarterbacks, in which he is not prone to injury; every time Vick leaves the pocket, the whole city of Philadelphia and the NFL collectively hold their breaths. However, when Newton runs, breaths are only held for the Panther’s defensive backs. A mobile quarterback that can dish out the punishment like Newton has never been seen, and it’s only the beginning for this soon-to-be face of the NFL. His ability to outrun and outmuscle defenders, as well as out-throw other NFL quarterbacks, gives Newton the chance to be the league’s best QB in such a short time.
Hopefully, he will avoid the sophomore jinx and improve last year’s already great statistics. As far as avoiding the injury bug, Newton is far from being bitten.
