Verge

Hey y'all, a topic that has been on my mind has always been the parallels between two of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFC South and ultimately their place in history and how they are viewed moving forward through the rest of NFL history. These two quarterbacks as you might have guessed are their respective franchises greatest signal callers, Cam Newton and Matt Ryan. Cam Newton (144 Games Started): 269 TDs (1.8 per contest), 123 INTs, Super Bowl Appearance, OROTY, MVP Matt Ryan (234 Games Starter): 394 TDs (1.6 per contest), 183 INTs, Super Bowl Appearance, OROTY, MVP Obviously on first glance, these are very similar players with identical top accomplishments. Let's zoom in a little bit on their surrounding talent. C Cam Newton top offensive producers: Greg Olsen (TE) (9 Seasons) (3 Pro Bowls) Steve Smith Sr. (WR) (3 Seasons) (1 Pro Bowl) Matt Ryan top offensive producers: Julio Jones (WR) (10 Seasons) (7 Pro Bowls) Roddy White (WR) (8 Seasons) (4 Pro Bowls) Tony Gonzalez (TE) (5 Seasons) (4 Pro Bowls) Wow, quite the difference here. Through Cam's career his top option was Greg Olsen, who was one of the best tight ends of his generation and a real difference maker in an offense reliant on their quarterback making plays outside of structure. Newton post Steve Smith Sr was saddled with a revolving door of Chicken McNobodies at the receiver position and the offense had to be funneled through the tight end and running attack as Jericho Cotchery, Corey Brown, Jason Avant, Kelvin Benjamin, etc was not getting the job done. Ryan on the other hand was consistently surrounded with top level offensive weapons, including one of the best receivers and tight ends in the history of the game, thanks in part to an aggressive general manager who wanted to ensure they could maximize the arm talent of their franchise quarterback. How about protection? Cam Newton top offensive lineman: Jordan Gross (3 Seasons) (1 Pro Bowl) Ryan Kalil (8 Seasons) (2 Pro Bowls) Andrew Norwell (4 Seasons) Trai Turner (6 Seasons) (5 Pro Bowls) Matt Ryan top offensive lineman: Jake Matthews (8 Seasons) (1 Pro Bowl) Alex Mack (5 Seasons) (3 Pro Bowls) Andy Levitre (3 Seasons) Todd McLure (5 Seasons) While Matt Ryan certainly had more consistency and high level talent on his offensive line, one could argue they had similar protection through the bulk of their career. Though one has to acknowledge some of the absolute dog water lineman that were trot out to protect Newton at his tackle spots post Jordan Gross retirement. Byron Bell, Mike Remmers, Matt Kalil, Chris Clark, Amini Silatolu, Nate Chandler, etc were all a collective pile of garbage save for two seasons from Remmers and a few splashes of brilliance from Michael Oher, Daryl Williams, and early career Taylor Moton. Defense should be fairly simple. Cam Newton defense average rank: 17th/32 Matt Ryan defense average rank: 18th/32 Honestly I was a bit surprised by this, I had thought Cam consistently had the better defenses, but when you look at the average it's shockingly close. While Newton did have the higher peaks of defense, Atlanta placed higher more consistently and only really faltered towards the end of Ryan's career. Both these players had on and off again defenses to rely on. So what does all this mean? 1. I am bored at work 2. Cam Newton has the better body of work given the talent around him While I am not sure either is necessarily a lock to get a gold jacket, it's undeniable that Newton carried his franchise on his back for the better part of his career and changed how quarterbacks are viewed as a whole. Newton became the blueprint for a new breed of signal caller, and Ryan is the standard that is set for pocket quarterbacks in the modern league. Both players deserve their kudos for what they did for their franchises and how they morphed their team's identity, but Newton I think was clearly the better of the NFC South quarterbacks, especially if he had remained as healthy as Ryan did.

Baker does some very heavy lifting for that offense. I don't see them winning many games without him.

'Total bust' is a bit dramatic. He was the middle of the road starter and now he is more like a top 10 LT.

Yeah. Mendoza and Simson for sure, but I think they both go in the top 5.

Fernando Mendoza Ty Simspson Dante Moore John Mateer

This is so messed up and gross.

And I am okay with that. I keep my distance while certain posters make the same post 50 times over. I don't believe that makes me fairweather or anything of the like. I also used to post a lot about the changes that need to be made, but it has become excessive, to your point.

I try to avoid twitter tbh. I check it maybe once a week. I think there is a large difference between "doing cartwheels" and "every other thread is doom and gloom and whining toxicity". Not built for this team that I have been a fan of for 24 years is certainly a conclusion. I have a Jake Delhomme poster up in my room.

This rookie class has certainly been a slam dunk. I am glad we have a star receiver at the very least. I think Scourton has been quite good as well.

Like for fugs sake, we just had the biggest upset win in almost a decade and there are EIGHT threads bitching about how bad Bryce is on the first page. It is depressing.

I am always here lurking. It's sort of miserable here if I am being honest. Not much motivation to post regardless of results given the state of this forum. Also the idea I only show up to the forum when things are going well is pretty laughable. When exactly was the last time things were going well? I've certainly been around.

Are we really to the point of comparing Bryce to Jimmy Clausen? Lmao

It's either Bryce or Daniel Jones and it's probably going to be Bryce.

He has elite ball placement and anticipatory throws but he is just sometimes inconsistent. Plus his off script stuff is really impressive.

I think the team is pretty comfortable with their corner room

Jaxson Dart lmaaaooo I am floored by them going from Daniel Jones to Jaxson Dart.

One hell of a smokescreen I will give the front office that much

Idk Joe Person is pretty reliable. I might on the wrong side on this one.

What happens if Carolina does manage to trade down and Mykel goes off the board? Donovan Ezieruaka or Walter Nolen would be the targets

I really haven't heard much one way or the other on TMAC

I actually have that from both an internal and external source lol

They really like Riley Leonard. Long term developmental backup kind of deal.

Yes

Something something sources something something names -Mykel Williams, edge, Georgia -Mason Graham, IDL, Michigan -Walter Nolen, IDL, Ole Miss -Carson Schwesinger, LB, UCLA -Riley Leonard, QB, Notre Dame -Kyle Williams, WR, Washington State -Donovan Ezeiruaku, EDGE, Boston College -Jonas Sanker, S, Virginia -Billy Bowman, S, Oklahoma -Ollie Gordon II, RB, Oklahoma State -Anthony Belton, T, NC State -Deone Walker, IDL, Kentucky -Cam Jackson, IDL, Florida State -Quincy Riley, DB, Louisvilla -Kyle Kennard, EDGE, South Carolina -Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina -Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota -Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State