For the first time in about 32-years the Patriots have a quarterback that can threaten a defense when he leaves the pocket.
It's not since 1998 when Doug Flutie started nine games under center that an opposing defense had to worry about trying to prevent a Patriots quarterback from hurting them with his legs.
Enter Cam Newton. Newton will most likely be the leagues 2nd-best rushing threat at the QB position in the 2020 season, behind only Lamar Jackson.
Could that style of quarterback play that Newton brings to the offense in 2020 be a foreshadow to a similar offense the team could run in 2021 with a rookie QB on the roster named Trevor Lawrence?
Newton is 6' 5" and 345-lbs.
Lawrence checks-in at 6' 6" and 220-lbs.
The two also possess very good speed at the QB position.
Newton runs a 4.59-forty and Lawrence times at a 4.7-forty.
Both of them use their size, speed and athleticism as part of their game to keep defenses honest.
Last season Lawrence ran 103 times for 563-yards and nine touchdowns over 15-games.
In 2018, Newton (he only played 2 games in 2019 due to injury) rushed for 488-yards on 101 carries with four TD's over 14-games.
Both quarterbacks use the read-option as an important aspect of their game. Keeping the Defensive Ends honest, while having to respect the run and not being able to pin their ears back and attack the pocket is a successful way to create extra time for a QB when he does drop back to throw. Newton and Lawrence use this scheme very effectively because they are a real threat to tuck it and run, and both can do a lot of damage to a defense when that happens.
Is it just a coincidence that Cam Newton is on the roster in 2020 and Trevor Lawrence will enter the NFL Draft and be playing in the NFL in 2021?
It probably is, but every team in the league knows that Lawrence is a generational quarterback and has all physical and mental attributes that make-up great NFL quarterbacks.
Patriots Offensive Coordinator, Josh McDaniels, does have some experience with running QB's, and actually drafted Tim Tebow in 2010, after trading-up to the 25th-overall spot to get him. So, it would appear that a QB with the skill and athleticism to use his legs within an offense and not just his arm is appealing to McDaniels.
Could the Patriots be targeting Lawrence in next years draft? Do they have the ammunition to move-up to the #1-overall position in order to have the opportunity to draft him?
Of course if the Patriots completely implode after losing Tom Brady to free agency and go 2-14 in the regular season they would have a very good shot at the #1-overall selection, but that is not likely.
They do have nine draft selections in next years draft, including two in the 3rd-round and three in the 4th-round. It would probably take a couple 1st-round picks and a handful of 2nd and 3rd-round picks to get up to that coveted spot in 2021's draft, but with a good amount of picks to use and the real potential for the team to finish with nine or ten wins this season they just may have enough to move-up the roughly 15-spots to land the next great NFL prospect.
Does having Newton in the offense in 2020 give the team a season of adjusting to a running QB and the read-option scheme?
Certainly every position player in the offense would have to adjust to playing within an offense that utilizes the read-option, and having a year to do that before Lawrence arrived would go a long way to speeding-up the process of transitioning an offense to a scheme that is gaining in popularity throughout the NFL.
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