The appeal of Cam Newton and other mobile QB's

So with the draft coming up, a lot of people are wondering why Cam Newton is possibly going to be the number one pick of the draft coming from a very simple offense in which he lined up in shotgun and usually looked at one receiver before taking off on the run. The reason why is because of the intense pressure that a mobile QB puts on a defense.

Normally, when a defense lines up against a standard drop-back QB, the defense enjoys an advantage of 11 players to 10 because the defense doesn't have to worry about accounting for the QB. With the mobile QB, the game evens out and the defense is forced to account for the QB's running ability, thus leaving one less defender to defend the pass. The problem is that none of the extremely mobile QBs have managed to master the passing game the way a Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Drew Brees have.

This is what originally made the wildcat offense in Miami, and then other teams who copied the attack, so difficult to defend. It became an 11-on-11 game where, if you can win the one-on-one battles, you have a very good chance at success. This sort of pressure has allowed teams in the college game to dominate with offenses like this. The Single Wing and option offenses are based on this. With an even battle, defenses have to be extremely disciplined in order to stop it. One mistake its a touchdown. At the NFL level, where defenses are as fast the offenses and extremely well disciplined, they can account for all the offensive players and stop the option offenses if they try to run it. If the QB can still be a viable threat to pass with success, he would essentially be unstoppable. You began to see signs of this in Philadelphia this year with Michael Vick. Under these circumstances, WR's don't have to worry about being double-teamed. The problem is that Vick is so injury prone and his inconsistencies as a passer began to reappear as the season went along. Put pressure on him and he still has a tendency to panic.

This is where Cam Newton comes in. His running ability, while not at the level of a Michael Vick or Vince Young, is still above average. His size makes him seem much more durable in the NFL then the others that have come before him. He is much further along than Vick or Young were coming out of college. His throwing ability needs much less work. The question then becomes if he will be willing to put the time in to be one of the best. Manning, Brady and Brees all live their profession. Young -and Vick early on in his career - is a "9-5 QB". The quarterback position in today's game of complex defenses and blitzes requires total devotion. You have to be willing to be the first one to show up and one of the last to leave. It certainly is not a job of convenience.

Many people compare Newton to Young in saying they are exactly the same - running QB's, getting drafted on their exploits in their final season, primarily the national title game. In reality, they are not that similar. Newton is not as gifted a runner. He is slower, but also more durable. He seems to be willing to work. Primarily, however, is his ability to deal with adversity. This was Young's biggest flaw. When things went bad, he didn't deal well with it. Newton has been dealing with adversity all season and still performing well.

All-in-all, as discussed in my previous post, there is no real way to translate a QB's success in college to the NFL. That said, Newton seems to be much more likely to become the mythical "Dual-threat NFL Quarterback" than his predecessors. Things could change, however, if he is not willing to commit entirely to his profession.