Cam Newton

Week 10 - Newton got some of his swagger back as he led the Panthers to victory in week 9 against the Redskins, but he will draw a much tougher matchup against a solid Denver D in week 10.  Thanks to the Peyton Manning led passing attack, we expect the Broncos to get out to an early lead meaning Newton will have to do everything in his power to keep the game close.  Expect the Panthers to abandon the run for the pass towards the end of the 2nd/ beginning of the 3rd quarter, and as long as Cam can take care of the football he should put up solid fantasy points for owners in week 10.

Week 9 - Cam still looks like a completely different player this season, as he threw 2 INT’s in week 8 along with 2 fumbles, and 0 TD’s.  Newton has fallen to QB2 status until his play improves, this is eerily starting to look like Vince Young 2.0 at this point.

Week 6 - Newton gets a bye week to get his head on straight.  Hopefully better times lie ahead for the 2011 ROY.

Week 5 - Newton faces a tough Seahawks run defense in week 5 after an impressive fantasy line in week 4 against the Falcons.  Last week Newton was 15 for 24 with 215 yards passing and 2 passing TD’s.  Couple that with his 9 rushes for 86 yards and 1 TD, and he was one of the highest scoring fantasy QB’s in week 4. Another tough matchup awaits in week 5, but Newton will remain the starter in the majority of formats depending on who your other QB is.

Week 4 - From a fan’s point of view, Newton is off to a bit of a disappointing start in 2012, but from a fantasy perspective, he is been a serviceable option.  His week 3 performance against the Giants was underwhelming to say the least, as he threw 3 picks to 0 TD, but he did salvage the week with a rushing TD, and based on his ability to run for the goal line Newton remains a top ten QB going forward in 2012.  In week 4 he faces a tough Atlanta Hawks defense which just shut down Philip Rivers and Peyton Manning, so if you have another top 10 QB on your bench, you may want to give Newton a rest.  Otherwise, keep him in your lineup and hope he can figure out the Falcons defenders.

Week 3 – Cam Newton is picking up where he left off a season ago, and as expected he torched the New Orleans defense in week 2.  Week 3 will see Cam taking on the New York Giants who have given up 20+ points to both the Cowboys and Tampa Bay Bucs.  Newton is a must start in standard scoring formats, isn’t it nice how those rushing TD’s are worth just a little bit more, and you dont have to worry about him passing to your opponents fantasy player.

Week 2 – Week 1 certainly didn’t go as planned for Newton and the Panthers, as he posted just 14.52 fantasy points, which has dropped him down our rankings significantly for week 2.  The good news?  A Cam Newton style QB just had a career game in week 1.  His name is RG3, and whether it was the New Orleans defense making him look good, or RG3 just being that good doesn’t really matter to Newton.  What does matter to Newton is he now has a blueprint for how to beat the Saints, and you can expect him to be prepared.  This is a solid matchup, and Cam should still be started in the majority of formats.

Week 1 - Cam Newton draws a favorable matchup against one of the leagues worst defenses from a year ago, the Tampa Bay Bucs.  In 2011, Tampa Bay had the 21st overall passing defense, at 238.4 YPG, and the leagues worst rushing defense (32nd) at 156.1 YPG. Our projections have Newton running wild over the Bucs D, and he comes in at #2 on our Week 1 QB rankings.  Expect Newton to rush for at least 1 TD as he is a must-start for this matchup.

Preseason Analysis

Cam Newton was named the offensive rookie of the year in 2011, and his stats were truly impressive.  Many fantasy football owners were pleasantly surprised with Newton’s 60% completion ratio, and over 4,000 yards passing.  Coupled with his 14 rushing TD’s and 706 yards, Newton was one of the top fantasy QB’s last season.  Heading into 2012 we are projecting a monster year for Newton, and he has shot up our draft board in 2012.  We have him as a top option at QB for his lethal combination of passing and rushing ability; while many of our readers may be surprised at his high ranking, we believe he will either meet or exceed our expectations in the upcoming fantasy football season.

Cam Newton – Getty Images