A lot of NFL fans have compared Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen to former Carolina Panthers MVP signal-caller Cam Newton, and the retired QB sees it too. And while Newton admits that Allen may be better in several aspects of his game, there is one area where Newton says he has the advantage without a doubt.
“I don’t even know if Josh remembers this, bro we played the Bills his rookie year for the preseason. So, I’m over there like, oh this is the first-round pick okay cool, watching him,” the former QB reminisced on his 4th & 1 with Cam Newton Show. “He was scrambling, and he had to throw the ball away. This motherf***er threw the ball so far, he was just scrambling, getting out and he just threw it. I said, ‘That mother f***er just threw that b***h, had to have been about 80 yards, bro.’”
Newton admitted that his arm didn’t have that kind of firepower in it, and when his co-host asked who was more accurate between him and Allen, Newton gave that and all other advantages to the Bills QB, save for one.
“S**t he can take all those other ones, but he’s not faster than me, that’s just my point,” Newton said. “Accuracy, throwing, all that s**t. He’s not faster than me.”
Newton eventually did amend his statement to give Allen all the arm talent edge while keeping the running advantage for himself.
“He’s not stronger than me either. He’s not a more skillful runner than me, anybody who’s more skillful is Lamar Jackson.”
So, is Cam Newton right? Is the former Panthers and New England Patriots QB a lesser passer but better runner than the Bills’ Josh Allen?
Josh Allen vs. Cam Newton
The biggest reason for the Josh Allen vs. Cam Newton comparisons comes down to the size and stature of the two players. Allen is listed at 6-foot-5, 237 pounds, although he’s said in interviews that he likes to play in the mid-240s during the season. Newton played at 6-foot-5, 245 pounds.
As far as being faster, Newton is objectively correct, at least based on their NFL Scouting Combine 40-yard dash times. In 2011, Newton ran a 4.6-second 40. Seven years later, Allen ran a 4.75.
And while neither of them hit the bench press to determine who has more upper body strength, Newton bested Allen in all the quickness, lateral movement, and explosion drills at the combine. The Auburn QB had better vertical jump (35 inches to 33.5 inches), broad jump (10 feet 6 inches to 9 feet 11 inches), and 20-yard shuttle (4.18 seconds to 4.4 seconds) results than his younger Wyoming counterpart.
The only drill Allen outshined Newton in was the 3-cone drill (6.9 seconds for Allen to Newton’s 6.92 seconds), which measures footspeed and change of direction.
As far as throwing the ball, we will have to take Newton at his word that he saw Allen throw it 80 yards on the run and the 2011 No. 1 overall pick knows he couldn’t do that.
Moving on to accuracy and all the rest of the things that go along with being an NFL quarterback, it’s best to look at the stats.
Six seasons into his career with the Bills, Allen’s passing stat line is as follows:
- 63-30 as a starter, 63.2% completion rate, 22,703 passing yards, 167 touchdowns, 78 interceptions, 175 sacks, 13 fourth-quarter comebacks, 19 game-winning drives.
At the same point in Newton’s career, the numbers looked like this:
- 62-45-1 as a starter, 58.5% completion rate, 25,074 passing yards, 158 touchdowns, 94 interceptions, 256 sacks, 13 fourth-quarter comebacks, 15 game-winning drives.
As you can see here, their passing numbers are incredibly similar, especially when you account for the fact that Newton played 15 more games in his first seven seasons. The running numbers are fairly close as well:
- Josh Allen: 657 carries, 3,611 rushing yards, 5.5 yards per carry, 53 rushing touchdowns, and 59 fumbles
- Cam Newton: 828 carries, 4,320 rushing yards, 5.2 yards per carry, 54 rushing touchdowns, and 44 fumbles
So, the verdict at the end of the day is that Newton and Allen are incredibly alike as players. The big difference thus far in Allen’s career is that seven seasons in, Newton had already won Offensive Rookie of the Year, an NFL MVP Award, and played in a Super Bowl. The ROY ship has already sailed, but surely the other two are big goals on the Bills QB’s list moving forward.
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