SI's Trotter Gives Newton #5 QB Midseason Rank

Yep he deserves it no doubt. Definitely a top 5 QB

and the new coaching staff impacts the entire team, and therefore also affects Cam. Add that to the fact that the offense sucked last year - YES, he deserves it.

He definitely deserves more credit though.

 Sure he may not be as good as Brees yet, but for Newton to be a rookie and right there with Brees says a lot. Like this article says, Newton had no contact with the coaches till after the lock out while Brees has been with his offense and coaches for how long? Teams like the Saints got to come off the lock out and back with their team they always had. If you factor in all that, I think it definitely puts Newton up in the top, I wouldn’t try to rank an exact order though.

As much bashing as he took prior to being drafted, then all the J. Russell comparisions, etc…Yeah he’s deserved it. He has proven everyone wrong and I’m excited for him. We will be playoff contenders every year starting next year for the next 7-8 years easily. Big names will want to come to Carolina to play with Cam. BAMF is a genius and it’s a matter of time before we win a ring.

Instead of stats and past history dictating where you fall on the list. Right now, if any given football fan, from any where in the nation was asked , list for me in order of preference , which QB you would like to see play this Sunday, from the comfort of your home in front of your big screen HD tv , I would say he easily is in the top 3 right now. He is exciting and has a lot of national appeal and intrigue around him, and I believe the nation wants to see what he can do and what he will do next.

and he’s chasing history with his performance each week. enough said.

I will say this, he is a top 2 or 3 rookie QB of all time ,no doubt.

Is he the 5th best QB in the NFL right now? No. I honestly don’t think so. Top 10 for sure, but top 5? That’s a little too high.

…I think it’s a bit premature to say he’s the #5 QB in the whole league. He’s really only played half a season so far. He’s certainly dazzled in that time and he’s put up nice stats, too. Even against some pretty stout defenses (e.g., Green Bay). But we’ve yet to see him really take command and will his team to a victory in pressure-filled situations. I’m not saying he’s incapable of that. Given his pedigree in college, I suspect he is. Those situations just haven’t come up enough for him yet to definitively elevate him ahead of other QBs who already have a track record of that kind of thing. Drew Brees is the primary example of that. And much of what might elevate Brees past Cam right now is the kind of stuff that comes with experience. Cam just needs time to accumulate that same experience and show he can shine just as brightly.

For the time being, we have some really gaudy (as in good!) numbers from Cam in his rookie season. He’s definitely going to break some more records for a first-year player. And he continues to make HUGE strides in learning and adapting to the pro game. As everyone said during the initial pre-draft analysis of him, his upside is tremendous. And he still hasn’t peaked yet.

For me, though, the funny thing is that we can put aside any concerns about Cam’s ability to put up numbers. That capability has been on full display since the first regular season game. So, we don’t have to question his ability or mechanics at all anymore. Instead, the stuff that’ll be scrutinized now when comparing Cam to other QBs will be in the arena of his consistency, his decision-making (and avoidance of turnovers), his ability to lead come-from-behind wins, his performance in really big, playoff-impacting games, etc. He’ll reach unquestioned elite status once he demonstrates those things on the field.

And I think he has a really good chance of reaching that plateau as well, given his swift development, his obvious work ethic, and his inner drive to compete and be something special. In the meantime, let’s just enjoy this rookie season and the early performances of his career so we can compare them down the road when he’s taking this team places. He can’t do that part alone, though. Rivera and Hurney still need to put some more pieces in place to complete the remodeling of this team. Once that happens, there’ll be no more “yes, he has great stats, but very little wins” arguments which people want to use when comparing him to other successful QBs (i.e., Andy Dalton, etc.).

Just my two cents,
—Neil

Cam is probably the most exciting AND successful QB to play the game. Experts point to Luck as being a once in a lifetime QB…well, perhaps Cam fits that bill too.

Not just because of his high ranking of Cam, but as I look down the list I see plenty of other names out of place. Even if we are just talking about this season’s rankings and attempting to throw out the preconceived notions of who is better than who all-time.

Putting Alex Smith ahead of Eli Manning at this juncture is just not right at all. I’m no Eli fan, but he is having his best season as a pro, and has single handedly bailed his team out of several games this season… most notably Sunday’s win over the Pats (granted, this article was written prior to that). He is doing this with a revolving door of receivers that can’t stay healthy, and a dearth of talent at the TE position.

Matthew Stafford should be much higher than he is, he has that Detroit O clicking on all cylinders, and has an incredible TD to INT ration of almost 5:1.

My point is, there is no way Cam should be 5, when you look at some of the guys below him in the rankings.

1. Rodgers
2. Brady
3. Roethlisberger
4. Brees
5. Manning
6. Newton
7. Vick
8. Stafford
9. Schaub
10. Fitzpatrick