Cam Newton is regarded as one of the best dual-threat QBs the NFL has ever seen. However, his prime years were short-lived, which may make one forget just how good he was. Luckily, we have his former teammate, Luke Kuechly, to briefly relive that era.
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Cam was modest in calling Lamar the best dual-threat QB ever on an episode of his podcast, 4th & 1, but Kuechly said he would pick prime Cam over prime Lamar.
“I’m partial to Cam and I’ll say this, I think that playing against Cam Newton would be so difficult because of how physical he was,” the former linebacker told Kay Adams of Up and Adams.
Kuechly referenced Cam’s big 6-foot-5, 265-pound frame and how he used it to run through people. He also mentioned that while Lamar is tough to tackle, it’s more manageable due to his smaller size. But Cam was always looking to run through defenders rather than around them.
“With Cam, he’s running through you on third and one, fourth and one… You know exactly what play is coming. He’s going to be running power with Tolbert as a lead blocker, and it’s like ‘good luck’.”
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It is true that at the height of his powers, Cam was debatably the better runner than Lamar. He was great at picking up first downs in short-yardage situations, while Lamar is better at picking up large chunks of yards at once. However, that shouldn’t be where the debate ends.
Lamar is by far a better passer than Cam ever was. Lamar has a career completion percentage of 65% which falls in line with the current league average. Cam had his career average down just below 60%.
Lamar also does a better job of taking care of the ball. In games where they started more than ten games in a season, Cam has thrown double-digit interceptions in every single one. Comparatively, Lamar has only done this once.
This season, Lamar is doing the best he’s ever done protecting the football. He has a touchdown to interception ratio of 39:4 through the air. If the season finished today, it would be the sixth-best ratio in a single season in NFL history. For every interception Lamar throws, he gives you 9.75 touchdowns.
Yet, Kuechly would know better than anyone how tough it is to play against Cam. He had to practice against him for years when they played together in Carolina. As smart a defender as Kuechly was, he would’ve definitely struggled more against Cam than Lamar if he had to face one of the two.
Kuechly was known as one of the best tacklers in the open field during his time in the league. A guy like Lamar trying to shake him out of his shoes wouldn’t have made him flinch. But Cam Newton trying to run through his chest is a whole different story.
Regardless, it’s a fun debate to have, and one that will live on until Lamar surpasses Newton’s career accomplishments. He already has him beat in MVPs, and now Lamar turns his attention to trying to make the Super Bowl for the first time in his career.
