Football Analyst Says Illinois' Jer`Zhan Newton Would More Discussed In NFL Draft If He Played At Another College
Illinois defensive tackle Jer`Zhan Newton is projected as a late, first-round pick in this month's NFL Draft.
His name isn't heard much in the media but Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt thinks Newton would be if he played at a different school. During a recent episode of his talk show, Klatt ranked Newton No. 4 on his list of "plant of the flag" players.
The term is for the players Klatt feels can have an immediate impact.
"Newton is a disruptive player in the middle of the field and those don't come along very often," Klatt said. "He can rush the quarterback, be productive in the pass game and he's also excellent stopping the run. He's quick in the interior, which you don't always see. I just think people don't quite recognize that because of where he played. If this guy played at one of the Blue Bloods last year, we'd all be raving about him."
Last year Newton was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and also earned All-American honors. He had 52 tackles (8.5 for loss), 7.5 sacks, nine quarterback hurries, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and four blocked kicks on the season.
Klatt compared him to NFL three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, a likely future Hall of Famer.
"When I would cover teams in the Big Ten, I always asked them about players around the conference," Klatt said. "Almost every offensive coach would bring up a man we couldn't block was Jer`Zhan Newton. At some point, you call a spade a spade and you say that guy is a football-playing Jesse."
SHANDEL RICHARDSON