Cam Newton Is the Ultimate Test for Josh McDaniels
Josh McDaniels has been considered an offensive genius during his reign as offensive coordinator in New England. He's been known for his creative plays and his success with Tom Brady.
But this season will be the ultimate test for McDaniels. Patriots fans will see just how great he is.
For most of his NFL career, McDaniels has had Brady leading his offense. But having a six-time Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Famer under center can make people start to question whether McDaniels was working the magic or if it was his quarterback making him look good. Who was really pulling the strings?
There were definitely times when fans questioned some of McDaniels' more unique plays. Whether it be a random halfback draw or an ill-advised screen pass, if this was happening when the team was successful, imagine what it will be like if they struggle?
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Now there is a new era in New England. Brady is gone and a new man will be under center. The question now being asked is whether the starting quarterback will be Cam Newton or Jarrett Stidham.
The signing of Newton offers a unique and challenging opportunity for McDaniels. The long-time OC can let his creative juices flow with Newton under center. McDaniels has never had a quarterback in his offense with Newton's skill set.
While Newton is no Tom Brady, the former MVP admitted during a recent roundtable discussion that the Patriots' offensive play calling would be much more expensive with him under center compared to Brady. “But one thing about it, though: Coach [Josh] McDaniels, you’re able to call some stuff that you ain’t ever been able to call now," Newton said.
This is almost an open invitation for McDaniels to do his thing. It's like Newton is challenging McDaniels to be even more creative.
With Newton on the roster, the offense is likely to run an RPO style playbook. Newton is a dynamic quarterback who isn't afraid to drop the shoulder and create contact to gain some extra yards. This could make life a lot easier for New England's running backs. Opposing defenses would have to worry about Newton running for a gain and will have to focus on him even on designed running plays. This could lead to some large holes for New England's loaded backfield to run through.
Also, McDaniels can be more creative in the passing game. Newton has the arm strength to stretch the field. In 2020 Patriots fans should expect a lot more deep balls to be thrown. Receivers such as N'Keal Harry and Mohamed Sanu seem to be perfect candidates to become Newton's favorite pass catchers in that regard. They are larger targets who can go up and grab 50/50 balls. Sometimes Newton's accuracy can be lacking, so having receivers like Harry and Sanu can make things easier for him.
In Carolina, some of Newton's favorite receivers were the biggest guys on the roster. Players such as Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess found success working with Newton.
It will be interesting to see how Newton's presence impacts Julian Edelman's production. Edelman is known for getting a ton of targets, and last season without Rob Gronkowski we saw the veteran receiver led the team in targets by a country mile. After Edelman's 153 targets, the next closest was White with 95. In 2020, the passing game should be much more balanced in New England, which could make it tough for Edelman to reach his standard receptions total. Instead of getting close to 100 catches, it may be more likely he gets around 80.
As a Patriot, Brady would shut off some of his younger receivers if they made mistakes. Harry seemed to be a player that struggled to build a relationship with Brady, and that impacted their chemistry last season. Now with Newton, the ball will be spread out more. Even Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski, and undrafted rookies have a chance to make an impact on offense simply because they have a QB who isn't afraid to throw the ball to him.
The closest thing that Patriots fans have gotten to a quarterback like Newton is Jacoby Brissett. When seeing the plays that were run for him you can see the Patriots using a similar style for Newton. PatriotMaven's Max McAuliffe broke this down a couple weeks back. Brissett frequently rolled outside the pocket and used the read option.
The only difference fans could see in this year's offense is that Newton has a proven arm. While a lot of Brissett's passes were short, dink-and-dunk plays, Newton will likely be airing the ball out, looking to take the top off opposing defenses.
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On the other hand, if Stidham winds up being the starter, we should see a similar offense to when Jimmy Garoppolo started in New England. Expect to see a lot of one and three step drops. New England will want to make it easy for Stidham to get the ball out as soon as possible. These quick passes combined with a lot more running would be the safest best for him.
This is the challenge that McDaniels will face; he has a quarterback competition on his hands in New England, and the competition is between two QBs that have very different skill sets. So, a different playbook may be used depending on who is under center. That means McDaniels will need two different scripts written up in order to be prepared for whoever wins the starting job.
With Newton, an RPO centered offense is expected. It's the future of the NFL and many offenses are using it. When you have QBs such as Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, you need to use their athleticism to your advantage. We even saw the Philadelphia Eagles and Nick Foles tear up the Patriots defense with the RPO in Super Bowl LII.
But with Stidham, it's unlikely that would be the case. A more traditional offense would be expected with the second-year quarterback dropping back in the pocket a lot more. There wouldn't be designed runs as there would be with Newton. Stidham is definitely faster than Brady, but he isn't as good as Newton running the ball.
Newton is clearly the favorite to be the starter, as he is a former NFL MVP. But what happens if he gets hurt? McDaniels will have to all of a sudden switch his focus to creating the best offense for Stidham to succeed.
If the Patriots struggle mightily in 2020 it would expose that McDaniels and other members of the coaching staff weren't as good as they once seemed. They were just carried by supreme talent. That's why this upcoming season present the ultimate challenge for Josh McDaniels and the remainder of the offensive coaching staff.
Will they sink or swim?
