NFL analyst believes Cam Newton will be the Week 1 starter

One NFL analyst explains why Cam Newton will start in Week 1.

With New England Patriots training camp likely to start next month, one NFL analyst has a starting quarterback prediction for the organization when things kick off in the fall.

It seems as though every analyst has had hot takes regarding who will start for the Patriots at the beginning of the season. NFL analyst and NFL Matchup producer Greg Cosell appeared on the Ross Tucker Football Podcast on Sunday. He went into lengthy detail as to why he believes Newton will start for New England in the season opener.

Among other things, he cited the Patriots acquisition of new personnel as a reason why Newton will be under center.

“I think it will be Cam Newton,” Cosell said on a recent appearance on The Ross Tucker Football Podcast. “I think what they did in free agency, and again it’s always difficult to get into the head of Bill Belichick as you well know, Ross. But I think what they did in free agency, what they’ve done the last couple years, indicates that this could be a little bit of an old-school offense built on the run game.  Let’s play with two tight ends with Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith.

“I thought Damien Harris looked very good last year when he got the opportunity to play before some injuries kicked in. They still have Sony Michel. They actually drafted a big physical runner, Rhamondre Stevenson, in the fourth round out of Oklahoma. I think you are going to see a little bit of 12 personnel. They’ll be a little old-school. They’ll try to run the ball. They’ll try to control tempo of games. And they’ll try to win that way. And of course Cam Newton fits extremely well into a run-based offense because you’ve got the quarterback run game. So Cam Newton will be the starting quarterback.”

Cossell’s reasoning is certainly intriguing. As to whether the new personnel acquisitions will be a factor in the Patriots quarterback competition, that remains to be seen. As it stands right now, the quarterback race is wide open.

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