Forget Cam Newton–Bengals QB Andy Dalton is the Front Runner For Rookie of the Year
Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton has been spectacular over his first eight games in the NFL–helping his team match last year’s win total by throwing for 2,393 yards and 11 touchdowns to go along with another 319 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Sure, the numbers are impressive so far, but they’re not worthy enough to consider the former Heisman Trophy the favorite for Rookie of the Year heading into the second half of the 2011 season–those honors belong to Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.
Like Newton, Dalton has been nothing short of phenomenal over his first eight games in the NFL and has the Bengals tied with the Baltimore Ravens for best record in the AFC (6-2) at the halfway point of the 2011 season. Not only has Dalton already thrown for 1,696 yards to go along with 12 touchdowns, but the rookie’s latest win over the Tennessee Titans was the third time this season he’s helped Cincinnati rally from a second-half deficit to pick up a win.
Even if Newton ends up with one of the greatest statistical rookie seasons in NFL history, it doesn’t compare to what Dalton’s done so far for the Bengals. Here’s a player that was thrown into the mix right away when Carson Palmer refused to return for the 2011 season and was supposed to experience the typical growing pains in his first year as a starter–just like most rookies do.
Instead, Dalton has played like anything but a rookie so far and appears to have a bright future ahead of him as the franchise quarterback for the Bengals. The race for Rookie of the Year will be close between Dalton and Newton, but when the voters take wins into consideration instead of just statistics–there’s no question Dalton will come out on top to take home the honors.
Dan Parzych is the Lead NFL Content Editor for www.RantSports.com/NFL, where he writes and edits NFL content for www.RantSports.com.
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24 Rants to “Forget Cam Newton–Bengals QB Andy Dalton is ...”
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Give Newton the Bengals D and he would be 8-0. Give Dalton the Panthers D and he would be 2-6 too.
Newton > Dalton = Secretariat > Sham
Wishful thinking. Dalton is playing for a team that is largely intact from the team that played two years ago and won the division, and doing a good job of game managing. Let’s be honest, Carson Palmer wasn’t exactly bringing them back to win those games, they were winning more often in not in spite of Palmer. Makes sense that they would have success when looked at from that perspective, considering the QB position may have been hurting them most for the past 4 years. Newton is leading last years worst offense to the top 5 in just half a season. By the end of the season his numerous records will weigh more on the minds of voters than the middle of the pack numbers for Dalton.
You obviously don’t know your horse racing history. Secretariat was an all-time great, and Sham was the perennial second-place horse to Secretariat.
Newton is Secretariat
No Cam should win! YOUR reasoning is not great. If that was thene case then Trent Dilfer should have been nfl mvp when the ravens won the super bowl! Smh
is this a joke? You guys have a top 5 defense to help him out. Look at the bigger picture before you turn into a complete homer for your team. Cam has the Panthers total offense from last to 5th this year. 4th in passing. Bungles are 22 in offense. Daltons good but he has a defense to hold on to his leads.
Dalton is not playing for a team with the last ranked defense, and last ranked special teams. The panthers have the hardest strength of schedule out of all 32 teams. That is why dalton has more wins. Last week, cam drove his team all the way down the field in the 4th quarter and the kicker missed a field goal. Your article is wrong. Dalton is playing on the much better team, and has easier opponents. That is why he has more wins. Simple and plain.
uhh, you have to look at what teams these guys are on also. if carolina had a better defense they would have only lost 1-2 games as well. cinnci has a far better defense than the panthers. so please take that into consideration also.
Andy dalton is playing good for a rookie but he isnt even in the same plane as newton. The main reason the beagals are winning is because of their defense and their easy opponents. If newton had a better defense carolina would be kicking but. Wait till dalton plays a good defense until then these coments to yourself.
It will be close. Newton has revived Steve Smith’s career. He’s broken countless rookie records. Almost all of Carolina’s losses have been within a touchdown or less.
This article needs a giant asterik reading “oh by the way I am Bengals homer”.
Anyone with a clue about sports can see that Cam is the ROY. If Cam was on the Bengals they would probably be undefeated. Dalton has done a great job for a rookie in managing games, but we all know that the Bengals are where they are cause of their defense.
Really? Dalton is more deserving because he isn’t as good but has the better team??? This is a prime example of a guy ignoring the whole of the work and going overboard on something because it just happened.
Nice Comeback against the Titans. But if you are within 2 scores, and your D shuts out the opponent AND gives your offense the ball twice in their red zone in the 2nd half, you are being given a GREAT situation to come back in. If you can get enough points to tie the game in the 2nd half with 23 yards of offense, you are doing great.
Had Cincy scored what Carolina had scored every week, they would be 7-1 and leading their division instead of 2nd due to the tiebreaker. Had Cincy’s offense gone up against what Carolina’s D allowed, they would have 1 win.
Both of them had the same situation heading into the season. Everyone knew those two were starters from day 1. There is no advantage here for Newton over Dalton. It isn’t like Ponder and Gabbert who didn’t get those starting reps on day 1 after the lockout.
Winning isn’t an individual accomplishment, especially for a rookie. Tell me, what does Dalton do on defense that has his team allowing about 9 points a game less than Newton’s team??? How is he the better comeback QB late in games with a 62 QB rating in the 4th quarter (Newton’s is 84).
Dalton walked into what is a top 4 defense this season on his side. Newton walked into the 28th ranked D, and what just was the WORST TEAM IN THE NFL.
Panthers have held opponents to 20 or less twice (both wins). The Bengals have held opponents to 20 or under 7 times (6-1 record).
Carolina is 6th in yards per offensive drive, 6th in points scored per offensive drive, despite being 25th in average starting field position (due to the D and ST returns)
Cincy is 30th in yards per offensive drive, 20th in points scored per drive, and 1st in average starting field position.
So you are saying Dalton’s offense gets a head start against Cam’s in field position yet can’t keep up with Cam Newton’s offensive scoring? Nice argument you have there.
Through 8 games Cam has the higher QB rating, much higher yards per attempt, has scored 40% more TD’s, and produced 60% more yards.
Cam Newton is on pace to break Dan Marino’s 5077 yards combined passing and rushing. He could account AS A ROOKIE for more yardage than any player in NFL history.
That is historic. The Bengals are on pace to finish 2nd in their division, one they won 2 years ago. Not so historic.
Well put.
Are you kidding? Dalton is being asked not to lose the game because the Bengals are a solid team with a #4 D. Don’t get me wrong, Dalton is having a great year, but you have to understand what type of offense Cam took over. Cam has the same people in last year’s dead last offense minus Jimmy Clausen. There were games last year where we didn’t have a first down until the 4th quarter. On top of that, we are the #31 defense this year and our special teams is atrocious. While we came painfully close to winning so many times this year, spectacular individual efforts don’t win games in the NFL. Winning is a team effort. Can’t put the blame all on Cam for the Panthers losses, just like you can’t say Dalton is the reason Bengals are having a great season. Cam is having a historical season. This article is silly
whoa…. whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa.
This just doesnt sound right at all. If you’re taking Dalton’s wins into account, then Mark Sanchez should have won Rookie of The Year when he brought the Jets to the AFC Championship game his rookie year.
Andy Dalton is not the best rookie in the league. The Bengals are just a good team that didn’t do well last year because they had three team mates who were more worried about themselves instead of the team. Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco, and Terrel Owens don’t play for the Bengals for a reason.
Cam Newton is EASILY the best rookie. He’s shattering rookie records, and he keeps the Panthers in every game they play. The only reason the Panthers are 2-6 instead of 6-2 is because Cam Newton can’t play every position. I mean seriously, this dude is the real deal, and he’s only going to improve along with the Panthers team. When that happens… Beware lol.. Put Cam on the Bengals and they’d be undefeated.
I’m not saying this, because I’m a Panthers fan, but this article is silly. Dalton is being asked not to lose the game because the Bengals are a solid team with a #4 D. Don’t get me wrong, Dalton is having a great year, but you have to understand what type of offense Cam took over. Cam has the same people in last year’s dead last offense minus Jimmy Clausen. There were games last year where we didn’t have a first down until the 4th quarter. On top of that, we are the #31 defense this year and our special teams is atrocious. While we came painfully close to winning so many times this year, spectacular individual efforts don’t win games in the NFL. Winning is a team effort. Can’t put the blame all on Cam for the Panthers losses, just like you can’t say Dalton is the reason Bengals are having a great season. Cam is having a historical season.
Bottomline: Dalton is getting attention because of the Bengals performance. Cam is getting attention for his performance. Since, this is an individual award Cam should win. Cam leads in most statistical categories. Sure Cam turns the ball over some but compare him to Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Phillip Rivers and he isn’t too far off…and they have been in the league many years.
Success. I have found the dumbest journalist on the planet. Now to other things.
The question of the ages. Who was/is the best (pick the position and the sport). 99% of the time the answer comes down to who WINS more games and championships. The measure of a good QB (aka leader) is simple, can he put his team in a position to win and then actually take that next step and win it – consistently. Cam is a great athlete – far better than A. Dalton. But is he a better leader? Does he win games? What intangible made Joe Montana a great QB? He was a good athlete (not great like Cam or Vick), but he was a leader that instinctively knew how to get his teams into a position to win and then actually won. Some people call it the IT factor, presence, poise, a winner.
For those who say they “know football” and say Cam is a better QB than A. Dalton, you are not paying attention. Watch the film. Listen to the other coaches and sports guys in the game. They all know that A. Dalton has that special IT factor that makes him a great QB. He never panics and shows improvement every week, and he’s doing it with average to better-than-average skills. Cam has amazing skills but isn’t winning. A. Dalton took the Bengals on long game-winning drives in three games now and in the Denver game he put them in a position to win the game but came up a bit short in the end. He did those things by using the tools available to him and with extraordinary effort.
People ask why Ken Anderson isn’t in the Hall of Fame. He was a great QB and even went to the Super Bowl. The answer is simple, he never won the big game. If you compare skills, Anderson and Montana were very comparable. In the Super Bowl, the 49ers and Bengals were very different teams. The Bengals had a better offense and a better defense. But Montana had the IT factor that allowed him to take a team that wasn’t quite as good, but made them into a Champion. The Bengals offense is not very good on paper. But he is able, at critical moments in the game, take that offense make them perform for the time that is necessary and win games. Cam just isn’t doing that.
According to the logic displayed in these responses, if Cam throws for 4,000 yards, 30 TD’s, and finishes with a 4-12 record he should get Rookie of the Year honors over a QB with lesser athletic abilities, but is able to win games (on his throwing – unlike the Ravens in 2000) and takes his team to the playoffs, and possibly the Super Bowl. Are you kidding me? A. Dalton is likely to throw for 3,500 yards 25 TD’s, but WILL be in the playoffs. Trent Dilfer won very few games on his IT factor or his ability, he just didn’t screw up and loose the games. You can clearly see that A. Dalton is winning games because of HIS ability to will his team to win it. It is obvious.
Let me ask you this (and go out on a limb), if the Bengals beat the Steelers next week, win the AFC North, and make it to the AFC championship game (quite an accomplishment for a rookie QB), then will you shut your collective pie holes and force yourselves to admit the he deserves ROY honors over Cam? For some of you on this thread, I seriously doubt it – but you’ll probably do great at fantasy football, because stats matter most in that game.
There are middle school kids all over the world spewing out more insightful and well thought out arguments than this.
cam newton is a better athlete than dalton but dalton wins and thats what matters in the nfl. If the bengals go 11-5 and make the playoffs dalton will win roty. cam newton is a special player and a freak athlete but he does not win and dalton does. he makes to many mistakes and i hate when people say newton doesnt have any weapons people who say that are high or stupid and newton has better running backs than cincy we have a 29 year old rb who is declining in his career and the panthers has williams and stewart thats a very good 1-2 punch and 2 pro bowl TE. i had my doubts about newton and dalton both are playing beyond there years as rookies.
Hi I just wrote this article because Andy Dalton is my boyfriend.
Newton: 60% completion, 2,400 yards, 11 TDs, 9 picks, and his team is 2-6.
Dalton: 62% completion, 1,700 yards, 12 TDs, 7 picks, and his team is 6-2.
THAT A BUNCH OF CRAP THE BENGALS HAS A BETTER OVERALL TEAM, THERE DEF IS IS AMONG THE TOP IN THE LEAGUE AND IF CAROLINA DEFENSE WAS BETTER THEIR RECORD WOULD BE BETTER, CAM CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH, HOW DOES A PERSON THAT IS ABOUT TO BREAK EVERY ROOKIE RECOD FOR A QB, NOT THE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, I THOUGHT THE TITLE WAS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, NOT THE ROOKIE WHO TEAM IS PLAY BETTER. YOU ANYLST AND WRITERS I THNK JUST SAY THINGS JUST TO MAKE A STORY BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHIN ELSE WORTH WRITING ABOUT. NEWTON CAME TO A 1-15 TEAM. IF CAROLINA DEFENSE WAS PLAYIN LIKE THE BENGALS THEY WOULD BE UNDEFEATED.
There is no doubt that Newton is the NFL Rookie of the Year. Dalton has been fantastic. He just hasn’t shined quite as well as Newton has. The ROY is a little bit different of an award from the MVP. It isn’t predicated on who is the most valuable. It focuses on who is the best. Right now, Newton is the best.