RADIO
Apparently, the days of sitting back on a lazy Sunday afternoon to watch the likes of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees toss touchdown pass after touchdown pass or long gone. It’s not that the aforementioned aren’t picking apart unsuspecting defenses all over the NFL, it’s just that a select group of younger quarterbacks are now doing their best to inch closer towards the ever-coveted “elite” status.
Seriously, this past week, both Cam Newton and Jameis Winston threw for five touchdown passes in winning respective efforts. Sure, select fantasy owners are excited about the accomplishment, but there might be more here than meets the eye.
For starters, at least in the case of Winston, this was easily the best game of his career. What makes this an even more impressive accomplishment is that, though Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson have been helpful in recent weeks, Winston’s not surrounded by incredible talent.
In fact, during Weeks 9 and 10 of this season, Winston threw for a grand total of zero touchdown passes. If Winston can string together a series of solid performances through a combination of ground-level and aerial ingenuity, he might very well be considered a fantasy-relevant quarterback come the end of the season. For now, he’s still a bit of a coin toss.
On the other hand, Newton is having an incredible season. Much like Winston, his Week 11 performance might also have been the best of his career. Additionally, armed with both a strong arm and powerful running ability, Newton’s able to put up top-tier numbers each and every week. Yes, his numbers’ aren’t as jaw-dropping as many fantasy owners would like, but he’s simply too valuable to sit come Sunday.
Still not convinced? Well, this past week, Newton started in 93 percent of CBSSports.com fantasy football leagues. While there might be a bit of variance across different fantasy platforms, there’s certainly not enough to discredit the fact that the vast majority of fantasy footballers feel that Newton’s play is inching him closer to being widely recognized as one of the league’s best quarterbacks.
Two young quarterbacks—one working towards making a name for himself and the other headed for long-standing stardom. Either way, as far as fantasy owners are concerned, there’s much upside and top-tier potential for point accumulation in the latter half of the season. Take note and respond accordingly.
