Did Jamie Newman Make Wrong Decision?

Heading into the 2020 college football season, quarterback Jamie Newman was seeing his name in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He was expected to be the starting quarterback for the University of Georgia and was even listed among Heisman Trophy favorites.

Then on September 2, Newman opted out of the season and declared for the draft.

The question now is: Did he make the wrong decision?

Preseason

Prior to the 2020 season, Newman was seen as high as the No. 3 overall quarterback on NFL Draft boards behind only Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields.

He was set to be handed the keys to an offensive system with offensive coordinator Todd Monken at the helm that thrived in driving the ball downfield, something at which Newman excelled. During his final season at Wake Forest, only Joe Burrow had a better passer rating than Newman on throws of 20-plus yards or more.

Despite initial speculation that Newman left because of the threat of JT Daniels taking over the starting role, we learned that Daniels wasn't ready to play until midway through the season at best. It would have been Newman's offense and he likely would have done well.

Considering the weapons that Georgia possessed on the outside, along with Monken's willingness to allow quarterbacks to be involved in the running game, it's hard to imagine Newman wouldn't have had a good season.

Postseason

It goes without saying that NFL evaluators wanted to see more from Newman, and wanted to see him succeed in a more NFL-like offense as opposed to the one he played in at Wake Forest. Though the primary issue with sitting out while others are playing is the fact that you open yourself up to being leap-frogged.

Players like Kyle Trask, Mac Jones and even Zach Wilson weren't thought of in terms of first-round discussions entering the 2020 season. Now, following great years from all three, they have all jumped Newman on draft boards.

North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance played in just one game this season, through fault of his own — the FCS did not play in 2020 — and he might get jumped by Wilson and others in the upcoming NFL Draft.

If we learned anything this season from these opt-outs, it's that it's one thing to miss a bowl game, but it's an entirely different discussion when talking about missing an entire season prior to entering the draft.

Final Tally

Preseason: Projected First-Round Pick
Postseason: Projected Fourth-Round Pick

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