I was browsing Twitter a few days ago when someone tweeted me an interesting Bleacher Report article about Cam Newton. The author of the article is Doug Farrar, a longtime NFL writer and online talent evaluator. Farrar is one of the most respected football minds on the internet, so I was curious to read his thoughts on Cam Newton and why he believes Newton has had a statistically poor season:

What has Newton in such a funk? You can start with the efforts of Carolina's coaching staff to tie him to the pocket more—something head coach Ron Rivera said in January would be a priority. Rivera said he wanted to move beyond the zone-read offense, but one would hope he was aware that a ton of Newton's big plays are predicated on the threat of him as a designed runner. When you take that threat out of the equation and force Newton to win with pinpoint, snap-after-snap mechanics, it's a problem. His reads aren't always accurate when he tries to make tight-window throws against more complex coverages, which exacerbates the problem.

I have generally agreed with Farrar’s evaluations in the past, but this seems like a lazy take to me. Farrar doesn’t flat-out say it, but he’s hinting towards many of the myths and stereotypes that have haunted Cam Newton ever since he declared for the 2011 NFL Draft. For example, the myth that Newton is limited as a passer because he can’t accurately read defenses, and how he’s slow and struggles going through progressions. I asked Farrar on Twitter to point out exactly which play(s) he was referring to when he wrote this criticism of Newton, and I’m still waiting for a response.

While we wait, I thought I’d do an in-depth analysis of a play where Newton does display all the characteristics you want to see from an excellent pocket passer.

It’s first and ten at the Panthers 28 yard line. The Panthers are in 21 personnel (2 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR) with Curtis Samuel as the X receiver, Ed Dickson the Y receiver, and Devin Funchess as the Z receiver. The pass concept is Y-Cross. It originally started out as an Air Raid staple in college football, and it’s now used at every level of football from high school to the NFL. It’s an effective and aggressive concept that can work against both man and zone coverage.

The Falcons are playing Cover 3 Cloud. It’s a variation of Cover 3 zone that uses the cornerback (c for cloud) as the flat defender. Y-Cross is a good concept to attack Cover 3 because the dig route from the “Z” receiver will attack a soft spot behind the hook defenders and in front of the deep third free safety.

To give the receivers time to get open downfield, the Panthers call play action with a 6 man protection. Samuel and runs a clear-out route to make room for the deep cross. Even though it’s a clear-out route, it’s still the first read in the progression because quarterbacks will still “peek” and check if the receiver has significantly beaten the cornerback on the go route. Ed Dickson runs the deep crossing route. There are options built into this route, as Dickson has the freedom to adjust the route against different types of zone coverages. Dickson’s crossing route is the second, and featured read on this play. Devin Funchess runs a deep dig route. Funchess is the third read in the progression, and his route should be open against both man and zone coverage. Alex Armah is the fullback and his job is to run a flat route out of the backfield to hold the backside zone defenders. This should open up more space on the dig route from Funchess. If the defense overplays the dig route, the flat route should be open as a fourth and final read in the progression.

The Falcons rush four, and the six man protection holds up well. Newton has a clean pocket and plenty of time to throw the football. He first “peeks” at Samuel’s go route, and immediately sees the cornerback has smothered Samuel. Newton also notices the free safety is sitting in the middle of the field. Newton then moves to Dickson, the second read in the progression. Dickson initially runs free through the zone, but the middle linebacker does a good job pattern-matching Dickson’s crossing route to take it away.

At this point, Newton knows the backside dig route from Funchess will be open. However, he needs to hold the safety in the middle of the field for a split second longer. Newton does a great job using his eyes to manipulate and hold the free safety in the middle of the field.

Newton finally progresses to his third read in the progression, and Funchess is wide open due to a massive void in the zone coverage as a result of Newton’s eye manipulation of the safety, who otherwise might have noticed the void and jumped the route. Funchess makes the catch and does a good job breaking a few tackles after to gain a total of 33 yards on the play.

I know it’s only one play, but I promise I’m not cherry-picking here. I can do this for a lot of Cam’s completions and incompletions from any game. I chose this particular play because it was a big downfield completion and a momentum-booster for Carolina in a very close divisional game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Cam Newton is an advanced pocket passer. He’s been displaying elite quarterback traits like looking off safeties since his rookie debut against the Arizona Cardinals in 2011.

Newton might not have the most consistent mechanics, but his ability to read defenses and understand how different pass concepts attack different coverages is as good as it gets for an NFL quarterback.

If you enjoyed this piece, I’d highly recommend checking out our film room on CSR. We have multiple breakdowns and analysis pieces on the Panthers every week. Don’t miss out!

All GIFs and images courtesy of NFL.com.