WEEK 11: START OF THE WEEK

START ‘EM

Cam Newton, QB

Washington Football Team @ Carolina Panthers

As he said himself, Cam Newton is back and he faces his former coach in “Riverboat” Ron Rivera this week. He only played 9 snaps in week 10, so it is difficult to determine how much of an impact he is going to have over the course of an entire game. However, he did look great getting two touchdowns while in, but can he play effectively throughout the game? My hunch is that he can play well enough to be a Quarterback worth starting this week. The best thing about Newton is his ability to run the ball, which is one of the easiest ways to rack up fantasy points at the QB position; just look at Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts. The latter of whom has had multiple games saved by his ability to use his legs to score points. Newton is another one of those guys, and I am very aware that just because he can run doesn’t make him an automatic start. There is the looming issue of him not passing the ball downfield seeing as he had an average depth of target of 7.3 yards last season which was tied for 34th in the league. However, that issue may be remedied by the cheat code of a player that is Christian McCaffrey. I expect Newton to turn his weakness into his strength this season by checking down a ton to McCaffrey who gets a lot of yards after the catch. This can help Newton by allowing him to focus on getting the ball out effectively as opposed to trying to get big chunk plays through the air. Where he can get those chunk plays is on the ground seeing as Washington is a bad defense this year, and they just lost one of their best defenders in Chase Young. That should open up the field for Newton to run or pass, so he can make a statement in his return as a starter.