Cam's Clear Case for MVP

[Jeremy Igo]

Not only has Cam Newton earned the Most Valuable Player of the NFL this season, he has redefined the position along the way. Anyone who watches the Panthers play on Sundays clearly understands this fact. However, there are still a few who try to dismiss Newton’s performance using the old way of judging a quarterback.

Allow me to present to you the main bullet points of Cam Newton’s amazing 2015 MVP bid.

 

3837 Yards Passing - 16th in NFL

Here is the one stat that is not all that impressive. Cam Newton only threw for 3837 yards. Strange that in this day and age nearly 4000 yards passing is not particularly impressive. If Cam Newton played the entire games against Atlanta and Tampa Bay, he may have surpassed 4000 yards. But, as you can see by the following stats… it really doesn’t matter. Many doubters will point to Cam’s completion percentage. It is easy to spot a living room couch expert that way. They have no idea how many dropped passes Newton has played through. Heck, if Ted Ginn held on to just half of his drops alone Cam Newton would have had well over 4000 yards and been ranked in the top 10 in this category.

 

7.8 Yards per pass - 7th in the NFL

The Panthers are a running team. In fact, they ranked 2nd in the NFL in rushing overall. Naturally, on a team based on the run, the QB will be throwing less. Taking this into account, Cam Newton averaged 7.8 yards per pass which ties him for 7th in the league. This is more yards per attempt than Tom Brady. Throw in the fact that Cam did so without a single wide receiver that would start on any other NFL team. This stat becomes not only impressive, but nearly unbelievable.

 

35 passing touchdowns - 2nd in the NFL (tied with Bortles, E. Manning, Palmer)

 

Thats right, Cam Newton is tied for 2nd place in the NFL for number of touchdowns thrown, also known as the most important stat for a QB in football. Moving down the field is meaningless if a QB cannot deliver in the red zone. Again, without a wide receiver that would start on any other NFL team. Simply amazing. 

Ok, so there are some traditional QB stats that clearly show Cam Newton is one of the top QB’s in the league. Do these stats make him a MVP candidate? Not really. They make him a very good quarterback.

 

Now comes the part where he has redefined the position….

 

56 Rushing First Downs - 5th in the NFL

 

I have said it for many seasons now. Cam Newton is 80% of the Panthers offense. Without his first down runs, many improvised, the Panthers would rank very low on offense. However, because of Cam Newton, the Panthers scored more points in 2015 than any other team in the NFL. Cam Newton single handedly kept the chains moving 56 times this season.

This is almost twice as many times as the next QB on the list…. Russell Wilson who ranked 33rd.

 

10 Rushing Touchdowns - 5th in the NFL (tied with RB Todd Gurley)

 

Cam Newton is tied with probably Rookie of the Year RB Todd Gurley in rushing touchdowns. He is ahead of full time running backs like Doug Martin, David Johnson, DeMarco Murray, the list goes on. Cam Newton has one rushing touchdown less than Adrian Peterson. Take a moment and let that sink in. Cam Newton has already tied Steve Young’s career record for rushing touchdowns.

 

Now, take into consideration that Cam Newton clearly was a very good QB in 2015 despite lack of weapons, he also was a top runner in this league.

 

In other words.....

Cam Newton was the majority of the production, both in the air and on the ground, in the offense that scored the most points in the NFL.

That, my friends, is MVP defined.

 

 

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[GhostP.]

Oh .. I thought it was going to be a picture of the actual case for his trophy .. Touche Jeremy TOUCHE!!

[FootballMaestro]

 I think Newton's passing alone (35 TD's, #1 offense, 3800+ yards on 15-1 team) are enough, makes him an MVP candidate IMO.

We don't even have to go to the running stuff.

We must remember. If not for numerous drops, bad weather games, catches tackled on the 1 yd line, and Rivera applying the brakes during big leads/pulling Cam early (which many teams don't do). Newton would have well over 4000 yards, 40+ passing TD's, and a higher completion percentage. So he is MVP worthy on his passing alone. It was the bad weather games and receivers which "dragged his stats down (if we'd like to label it such a thing)". And he still ended up with the #1 offense, and leading TD stats.

And we can't forget he's doing this all with very average receivers, and a rehabbed, parts bin Offensive line.

So he's MVP alone on his passing yes. However, the running stuff Jeremy's citing just makes it otherworldly (even though Cam didn't run as much the 2nd half). And this is why he may be a unanimous MVP.

Edited January 6, 2016 by FootballMaestro

[Khyber53]

Imagine how many yards passing he would have made if he hadn't been working with a short field so many times thanks to our defense. 

[Cary Kollins]

A Carolina Panther winning NFL MVP.

 

What a time to be alive.

[PantherPhann89]

MVP = Most Valuable Player... Cam is without a doubt this years MVP. Much Congrats to Cam and his many accomplishments to date, lets continue the journey... #keeppounding

[osd22]

What is his production in the red zone? Gotta be top 3, if not 1st place. 

[Mr. Scot]

I don't need stats to know who the MVP is.  My eyes and my football knowledge are enough.

No doubt it's Newton.

[TheRed]

Excellent work.

Just imagine if the huddle geniuses here in 2011 had gotten their way about not wanting to draft Newton.

[FootballMaestro]

For those salty Seattle fans, who hate the fact the diminutive Wilson can't run in as many TD's compared to Cam.

We must remember, Olsen (several times), Philly, and other Panther receivers were tackled on the one yard line after long runs. So it's only fitting in some ways that Newton was able to run those in. Cause in reality they should have been passing TD's.

So good for Cam or Shula.

[FootballMaestro]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I don't need stats to know who the MVP is.  My eyes and my football knowledge are enough.

No doubt it's Newton.

Unfortunately, I would say 80% of football fans (and many in the media) can't judge talent, and/or have no ideas what's happening on the field, and how players fit into the whole scheme, and what they're doing.

But I hear ya!

[UKPanther94]

I'd love to know how many of those runs for a first down came on third down, must be quite a few

[FootballMaestro]

1 hour ago, TheRed said:

Excellent work.

Just imagine if the huddle geniuses here in 2011 had gotten their way about not wanting to draft Newton.

In fairness: You can say that about many draft picks.

Nonetheless, as  I've said numerous times here. Contrary to popular belief. Newton was the consensus #1 pick 1 month before the draft with NFL people.

Problem is: Most people (including here on The Huddle), only listened to media people and Faux "Draft experts", who overtly tainted their opinions-besides their own biases-of Newton. So they find this incredulous to believe now somehow.

Ron Ron and his staff did themselves, and/or read all the necessary research (film-throw/run breakdowns, interviews, deep background checks, etc...) as the NFL draft pool scouts. Therefore, they had a lot less question marks regarding Newton as many media and fans did (Think Jameis Winton, and all his troubles, while still a #1 pick). And before you say it, since I mentioned Winston. The Panthers saw through film break down that Newton could make every NFL throw; while his offense wasn't as simple as many claimed. And through both film review and interviews, the Panthers knew Newton rarely ran on his own. So he was clearly committed to sitting in the pocket (contrary to what most media were saying at the time).

No one in the media was talking about Real NFL stuff. It was all in their mind and hearts. Not surprisingly, many folks on sites like this, just repeated what they heard from dumb media.

Edited January 6, 2016 by FootballMaestro

[SOJA]

With respect to Brady and Palmer because they had great years as well, but by the definition of MVP there is no way Cam isn't it. Best team in the NFL and easily the most critical part to our success