The Kyle Allen and Cam Newton debate is exhausting for a lot of reasons. The main one is so many of the arguments are made in bad faith. It’s fair to question Newton’s health and how effective he can be if he’s unable to get back to 100% – especially in the long run. However, the idea that Allen gives the Panthers a better chance to win games than Newton when he’s healthy is laughable.
One point that these folks keep making is Allen is a much more accurate quarterback than Newton. The tape and the numbers suggest otherwise.
According to Pro Football Focus, Allen is currently ranked No. 24 at QB in the league. The major factor? It’s his inaccuracy.
“Despite what Allen’s 106.6 passer rating would suggest, his performance to this point in the season has qualified as below average. He owns just the 24th-ranked PFF grade at the position through the first seven weeks of the season. . . Allen ranks 30th out of 32 quarterbacks in the percentage of his passes that were deemed to have accurate ball location (50.0%) and 30th in the percentage of his targeted passes that have been uncatchable (24.5%).”
That’s not to say Newton is the most accurate passer in the NFL – he’s not and he’s never going to be. However, last season Newton proved he can complete a respectable number of his passes – he finished the year at 67.9% – better than Allen’s 65.6% this year.
Newton’s twice-operated on throwing shoulder has gotten a lot of attention during this extended absence. His shoulder and motion appeared fine early this season though – it was clearly the foot injury that was bothering him.
Once Cam is able to move around again properly, we predict that he’ll prove he’s still a capable starter in this league.
