The same publication that has Auburn’s Bo Nix as the 95th best quarterback in college football for the 2020 season is back at it with what I assume are horrible attempts at riling up the Tigers fan base.
Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus is making a statement on Cam Newton that … well … just take a listen.
“Maybe the most talented quarterback in the NFL over the past decade, Cam Newton, in terms of what he can do from the arm talent perspective, from a legs perspective, just who he is, he was never a top five, maybe that one MVP where he was top five quarterback, but he was not a top five quarterback over the past decade because talent only gets you so far.”
Okay, so much to break down here including the fact that, you know, Newton won the 2015 NFL MVP while taking a team that was short on talent at the wide receiver position to the Super Bowl and the fact Renner sort of contradicts himself by saying Cam was, in fact, a top five quarterback during that season.
Let’s just take a quick look at some of the NFL records that Newton achieved over the past decade.
Rookie records
- Most combined touchdowns for a rookie in NFL history (35
- Most combined yards for a rookie in NFL history (4,784)
- First rookie to pass for at least 4,000 yards
- First and only rookie to pass for more than 4,000 yards and rush for more than 700 yards
- First rookie in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards in back to back games, September 11, 2011 against the Arizona Cardinals and September 18, 2011 against the Green Bay Packers
Records and achievements
- Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in NFL history (58)
- Most games in NFL history with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown (32)
- Most player of the week awards in a single season (5) tied with Tom Brady
- First player in NFL history and most games with at least 250 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, one passing touchdown, and one rushing touchdown in a single game (2)
- Most games in single season with at least one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown (8)
- Only player in NFL history with at least 30 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns in same season: 2015
- Most rushing touchdowns in single season by a quarterback (14)
- Most combined yards in a player’s first five seasons (21,560)
- First quarterback and fifth player in NFL history with at least 500 rushing yards, 5 rushing touchdowns, and 4.8 yards a carry in 5 consecutive NFL seasons
- First quarterback in NFL history to win both NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and NFL MVP at some point in his career.
- Fastest player to throw for 1,000 yards (at Arizona Cardinals, vs. Green Bay Packers, and vs. Jacksonville Jaguars)
- First player in NFL history with at least five rushing touchdowns and five passing touchdowns in his first five games
- Twenty-fifth NFL player (and first quarterback) to have 20 rushing touchdowns in first two seasons
- First player to have 30 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns in first two seasons
- First player in NFL history with 50 passing touchdowns and 25 rushing touchdowns in his first three seasons
- First player in NFL history with 4,000+ passing yards and 10+ rushing touchdowns in a season
- First player in NFL history with 4,000+ passing yards and 500+ rushing yards in a season
- First quarterback in NFL history with 100+ pass touchdowns and 25+ rush touchdowns in first five seasons
- First quarterback in NFL history with multiple seasons of 20+ passing touchdowns and 10+ rushing touchdowns in a season
- First player in NFL history with 10,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in his first three seasons
- First player in NFL history with 10,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards in his first four seasons
- First player in NFL history to have at least 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in five consecutive seasons
- First quarterback in NFL history to rush for 100+ yards and pass for 300+ yards with 5 touchdowns in a single game (December 20, 2015).
- First player in NFL history with 100+ rush yards and 5 pass touchdowns in a single game
- First player with 3,500 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns in a single season (2011, 2015)
- First quarterback in NFL history with 10+ rushing touchdowns in multiple NFL seasons (2011, 2015)
Notice how many times the word “first” shows up?