Cam’s Pats don’t look very Super
Without a doubt, Cam Newton’s life as a quarterback for the Patriots will look a lot different than it did a year ago. New city, new team, new … fans. But for all the hype surrounding the former MVP joining forces with Bill Belichick, this current Patriots roster bears an awfully strong resemblance to the rosters Newton has played with throughout his career. God help him.
Let’s start with some reality: These are not the Patriot weapons Tom Brady rode into the record books. Newton does not inherit Rob Gronkowski or Wes Welker or Randy Moss or even an in-his-prime Julian Edelman. There are good reasons the Pats offense declined the last two seasons, and not all of them wore No. 12.
Edelman and Mohamed Sanu are aging wide receivers who have never been elite targets. They have no passing game threats at wide receiver and Sony Michel has been a lackluster runner to this point in his career. James White has been stellar as a passcatching weapon out of the backfield. That’s about it.
This is not the usual Patriot arsenal. It looks more like the offense Brady was saddled with during the first leg of the dynasty … and a lot like the rosters Newton has led throughout his career.
For most of his time with the Panthers, Newton played in an offense that didn’t feature any great receiving talent. Steve Smith Jr. was there for the start of his Panthers career and D.J. Moore caught passes from Newton recently. The Panthers’ best and most consistent receiver was Greg Olsen, unquestionably one of the best receiving tight ends of the last decade, but never — ever — a gamebreaker like Gronk.
There was a good chunk of Newton’s career when his most dangerous receiver was Ted Ginn. Jr, a player of many talents that unfortunately do not include “catching the football.”
Still, Newton thrived. He took Ginn, Jerricho Cotchery and Corey “Philly” Brown to the Super Bowl in 2015. So it’s not unreasonable to think he’ll be able to execute a functioning offense with the Patriots’ group of receivers. He’s done it before.
New England doesn’t have a player as good as Olsen was in his prime, but they do have something else that will work in Newton’s advantage: a pretty damn good offensive line, especially on the interior.
Guards Joe Thuney and Shaq Mason and center David Andrews are as good as it gets across the entire NFL. All three excel in both run blocking and pass protection; Thuney, in particular, excels as a pass protector. Isaiah Wynn has the potential to develop into a stud left tackle and Marcus Cannon is a nice complementary piece at right tackle.
This is probably the most talented offensive line Newton has played behind in his career. He’s had Andrew Norwell, Ryan Kalil and Trai Turner in the past, but New England’s group has a much higher ceiling. The weapons may have familiar deficiencies, but the Patriot line could provide Newton a level of protection he has not had in years.
The defense is still more than capable of playing at a championship level, too. Last year, they allowed a passer rating of just 62.8 — first in the NFL by a mile — and they’re returning their entire secondary.
New England is in a position where its quarterback is going to have to be an elite generator of offense to overcome some of the shortcomings at skill position. They just signed one of the elite offensive machines of the past decade.
Of course, the caveat here is health. If Newton is still banged up like he was last year, then this may look ugly, but his $7.5 million deal is so heavy with incentives that it was well worth the risk.
New England signed a QB who, at his best, can sustain an offense without much help. He’s done it before. And so have the Patriots.