Cam Newton has had some debatable critiques of the Patriots quarterback. Eventually, someone had to come to his defense.
While most of the league has hyped Drake Maye all season, Cam Newton has remained skeptical.
On the latest episode of his podcast, 4th & 1 with Cam Newton, the former league MVP criticized the young quarterback, arguing it is premature to consider Maye an elite player. Newton's main point is that Maye has only demonstrated top-tier performance for a single season, making it too early to elevate him to elite status.
Fair point. Despite it being an exciting season for Maye, who has many fans excited about the future of the New England Patriots' football, anything can happen from here.
The take on the second-year quarterback prompted former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel to go on a rant against Newton's stance on Maye.
Samuel fired off a slew of tweets stating that "Cam Newton wasn’t a game changer. He was just a big guy who could run the ball. Not much talent in th
Samuel also brought up the powerhouse that was the 2015 Carolina Panthers. A team that looked poised to win the organization's first-ever Vince Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl 50 but fell short against the Denver Broncos in Peyton Manning's final game.
Samuel noted the team's sixth-ranked defense and called it "a team effort."
Newton has made a name for himself this past season as a major critic of the Patriots and Maye, which is a shame because the Patriots' young quarterback hails from North Carolina and mentioned back in Week 4, after a dominant win over the Panthers, how much of a fan he was of Newton.
A few weeks later, the former Panthers QB criticized the team, calling them "fool's gold" because he did not buy the hype around their hot streak.
Samuel's pushback against Newton generated a lot of chatter online on Saturday, but one thing must be kept in perspective: quarterback judging and ranking are subjective.
A year ago, Maye had a lackluster team of coaches around him; now he is thriving. Similarly, other quarterbacks like Trevor Lawrence and Matthew Stafford, who could have become forgotten "could have beens" of the past, are now in the driver's seat this coming postseason.
Drake Maye also has Josh McDaniels as his offensive coordinator. The same OC that Newton had when he came to the Patriots in 2020. He would throw for 2,657 yards, eight touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Newton did run for 592 yards and 12 touchdowns, but New England finished 7-9 with the sixth-worst offense in the NFL by points per game.
Five years earlier, he was an MVP. Once again, judging and ranking a quarterback is extremely subjective.