Is Auburn’s Cam Newton the National Football League’s number one draft pick? - Part 2
This is the second part of a series of articles discussing whether or not Auburn University’s quarter-back, Cam Newton, will be picked by the Carolina Panthers as their number one overall pick in April’s 2011 NFL Draft.
As far as being the entertainer and icon that is Cam Newton going where people do not want him to go, especially if you could be the potential first pick.
As a quarter-back, you are the face of the franchise and there is a lot of pressure with being a quarter-back on a team. That is why they are paid the money that they are paid, get all of the blame when they lose and get all of the credit when they win.
If you are the leader of an organisation and make comments about being an iconic figure and an entertainer, you are not thinking about the game in the right way.
Matt Ryan does it as well as any other young quarter-back in the National Football League, which is accepting the responsibility that comes with being a starter as well as accepting the intangibles that come with being the face of a franchise.
A.J. Hawk was asked if Aaron Rodgers can really become any better or humble in his experience to replace the Green Bay Packers’ legendary quarter-back, Brett Favre. He said that Rodgers’ situation was very unique, coming from behind to try to make Packers
fans forget about Favre. It does not happen very often, but you could not draw up a better way to handle it than Rodgers did.
As far as the entertainer and icon quote about Newton, Hawk thought about current starting quarter-backs and he “can’t really see any of them saying anything like that.” He also thinks that Ryan is a perfect example of how Newton should be. He feels that
he is a “class guy” and out of all of the big name quarter-backs in the NFL, Rodgers and New Orleans Saints’ quarter-back Drew Brees are some of the best examples of quarter-back material.
Even if Brees, Rodgers and Ryan would not make comments like that, if Newton comes to the professional league and plays like he did at Auburn, he would shut everybody up.
Newton has had an incredible season at Auburn. In his 13 games with the Tigers, he has led the team to win the BCS National Championship as well as a Heisman Trophy for himself. He has completed 185 passes of 280 attempts for a completion percentage of 66.1
and 2,854 passing yards. That is an average of 10.2 yards per attempt. Those 2,854 passing yards yielded 30 touch-downs with his longest touch-down pass being for 94 yards. Newton has thrown only seven interceptions for a season quarter-back rating of 182.05,
less than four points shy of the 186.0 record set by Colt Brennan.
Besides passing, Newton has also rushed 264 times for 1,473 yards for 20 rushing touch-downs. That is an average of 5.6 yards per run, with his longest rush standing at 71 yards.
Will Newton, who has the same playing style as Philadelphia Eagles’ quarter-back Michael Vick, be able to walk the walk or can he just talk the talk? We’ll just have to wait until April’s draft to find out!
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: