New England Patriots: Cam Newton a dynamic option at…tight end?
The possibility of a multi-role situation for New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton in the backfield has been floated but an outside-the-box thought is that Cam could also be a dynamic move tight end in its own right.
Let’s explore this imaginative and seemingly maybe outrageous thought in detail to see if it makes any sense.
The gist of the thought is that Newton is a superlative athlete, runner, can catch the ball and likely block as well as lead an offense.
Maybe, at times he could also be used as a move tight end to further augment the New England Patriots’ already terrific tight end room.
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This thought is related to a previous suggestion of a New Orleans Saints-type dual quarterback situation as they used with Drew Brees and Taysom Hill. But this takes it a bit further while not dismissing that other suggestion in the least.
How could the New England Patriots use Cam Newton as a move tight end
First of all, the New England Patriots have enjoyed great success using the tight end position in the passing attack. Veteran fans, think back to the amazing Patriots tight end, Ben Coates, Daniel Graham, Ben Watson, and all can appreciate the All-Universe Rob Gronkowski as the best-of-the-best.
The tight end position is important in new England. Witness their drafting two tight ends in 2020 in the third round and then, this offseason, bringing in perhaps the two best free-agent tight ends onto the team in Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry. It’s in the team’s DNA.
The team is now poised after a couple of seasons hiatus to have its tight end tandem wreak havoc in the passing game once more.
So why not add a third to the equation at times with the size, speed, running ability, and power to afford the dimension of a true three-tight end offense with offensive threats at all three positions.
The thought of this three-man tight end threat was explored previously in the context of the draft. That was an unlikely scenario with the player in question, Kyle Pitts who went to Atlanta with the fourth overall pick in the draft. A massive trade-up would have been required.
Cam Newton pulling a Tim Tebow
But, what if New England already had that option on its current roster in the person of Cam Newton? Cam will be 32 on May 11 and he’d not likely to want to give up his quarterbacking career. But he wouldn’t have to. This is just an option in the playbook.
Instead, using this amazing athlete most of the time at quarterback, sometimes in a wildcat formation, and maybe even in a hybrid role sometimes a move tight end might just be a way to more fully exploit the Superman-like abilities of this great player.
Cam is 6’5″ tall and is listed at 245 pounds. And let’s just say his body fat percentage is probably not even measurable. This is a super athlete.
There is no doubt whatsoever that Cam could fit in seamlessly at times as a tight end in a New England Patriots’ power attack featuring Henry, Smith, and Newton as triple tight ends.
Add Rhamondre Stevenson to the backfield and add Nelson Agholor or Kendrick Bourne and this offense could create all kinds of issues/problems for opposing defenses.
In addition, it would allow Mac Jones, the young quarterback to get some meaningful snaps in his rookie season.
Frankly, such an alignment with three tight ends who can block, catch and run with the ball along with a wide receiver and big running back (or a small one, hello James White) who can also catch has to be a nightmare scenario for opposing defensive coordinators.
dark. Next. Cam Newton vs Mac Jones a most intriguing battle
So that’s it, a thought on how the New England Patriots can present massive problems for their opponents this season utilizing a plethora of assets on hand at once.
This may be a bizarre idea, but wouldn’t you like to see put into practice as an optional formation? And, oh, by the way, how do you defend against Cam, Henry and Smith all on the field at once?
That’s an easy question to answer, with great difficulty, especially with Mac Jones dishing the rock to them.