Ryan Mallett vs. Cam Newton: Who Had the Better Pro Day?
Tuesday was a busy day for NFL scouts, general managers and head coaches, as they tried to split their staff up in a way that they could attend the Arkansas and Auburn pro days, which were oddly scheduled at the same time.
While teams certainly want to see every player that these two prestigious universities can offer, the real allure was to see top quarterbacks Cam Newton (Auburn) and Ryan Mallett (Arkansas).
Both quarterbacks entered Tuesday's workout sessions with questions to answer about accuracy (Newton), mobility (Mallett) and character issues that have plagued both players' offseasons.
How did the two passers fare on Tuesday, and did either player generate enough positive momentum to move up draft boards?
Let's take a look at the factors most important to playing quarterback and which player did better on Tuesday.
Accuracy
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Mallett: Ryan Mallett's accuracy has never been questioned. In fact, he has a wonderful arm and looks very good throwing the football.
Mallett shows above-average accuracy to complement his outstanding mechanics. His short accuracy is spot on and can lay the ball into the receiver’s hands on deep routes. Mallett can occasionally miss a receiver across the middle with his tendency to throw some passes too high. Using his exceptional arm strength, he can place the ball into tight windows that even some NFL quarterbacks can’t hit. He does a great job of putting the ball where only the receiver can catch it. He also excels at throwing accurately while on the run after being forced out of the pocket. Accuracy is a strong aspect of his game but has definite room for improvement.
Mallett hit well on passes long and short during his Pro Day. Except for a few drops by his receivers, Mallett put on a very good show.
Newton: Cam Newton's biggest question mark is his accuracy. At the NFL Scouting Combine, he showed poor accuracy throwing out routes and attacking the sideline. In Tuesday's 60-throw session, he again looked weakest throwing to the outside, often over-throwing his receivers high and outside.
The interesting thing about accuracy is that you can improve it by fixing a player's footwork. Newton is not taking consistent drop steps and fails to step through his throws at times, relying too much on his wrist to snap the ball out.
By fixing his footwork, Newton can become much more accurate.
Newton hit on 50-of-60 passes with three drops.
Agility and Mobility
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Mallett: Mallett is a pure pocket passer. He doesn’t have the speed, athleticism or quickness to be a legitimate scrambling threat in the NFL. Shows good movement in the pocket, but defenders shouldn’t be concerned with him picking up first downs with his feet on a consistent basis. Overall, he is sub-par in both top-end speed and athleticism but makes up for it with decision-making and poise.
His 5.5 second time in the 40-yard dash is terribly slow, even for a big quarterback. This will definitely affect Mallett's stock in the eyes of many teams.
Newton: Newton's athleticism is unquestionably his strong suit. He has shown in drills that he has the agility to get outside the pocket and make throws or run. He is not only fast, but has rare size for the quarterback position. Imagine Ben Roethlisberger with Vince Young’s speed. Newton does a nice job moving around in the pocket, freeing himself to throw.
Running a fast 40-yard dash may not mean much, but Newton's quick feet will definitely aid him in eluding pass rushers and threatening defenses.
Arm Strength
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Mallett: This is definitely Mallett's greatest skill. His arm strength is among the best in college football. Whether it’s a deep ball down the sideline or putting the ball on a rope 20 yards down the field, he has the arm to put the ball anywhere it needs to go.
Looking at Pro Day reports, we see that Mallett will often overthrow the ball, almost like he is unsure of the amount of strength behind his throws. The main concern is that he can sometimes rely too much on his arm strength when making risky passes.
Newton: Cam shows phenomenal arm strength. He has no trouble putting the ball over 50 yards in the air. During throws Tuesday, he showed that he can make every throw you could ask of him. Unlike his accuracy, Newton shows great touch and understanding when throwing the long ball.
His arm strength is truly top notch. Newton has thrown at least 70 yards in the air that we have seen— and that is during a game. Newton will step in to the NFL as a dangerous deep-ball passer.
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Character
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Mallett: For those wondering, that is a mug shot of Ryan Mallett. He was arrested in March of 2009 for public intoxication. There are also rumors of drug use and addiction—rumors that Mallett has not backed away from or refuted.
Even if the rumors are false, and they very well could be, Mallett faces questions about his work ethic, leadership ability and off-field decision making.
Newton: As is well documented, there are allegations that Newton’s father Cecil offered a play-for-pay deal to Mississippi State, among other schools. Cameron was cleared of any wrongdoing by the NCAA, but the cloud continues to hang over his name.
On the field, Newton is a clear leader and a person teammates will follow. He can come off as immature, and there are those who would worry about his "entertainer and icon" quote given to Peter King.
All in all, Newton has no real character concerns that we would worry about.
Decision Making
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Mallett: Ryan Mallett is a very confident passer who shows great awareness with the ball and a high football IQ. That confidence can get him in trouble, though.
Much like Brett Favre or Ben Roethlisberger, Mallett is not afraid to push the ball in to spots that he should look past or check down from. Often, this happens when he is pressured and has to make a snap decision.
When given time to throw, few quarterbacks look better than Mallett. He reads the defense well from the pocket and has experience checking down to third and fourth-options.
Of course, we cannot see this at a Pro Day in scripted workouts.
Newton: Newton's Pro Day also featured a scripted workout with no chances to look at his decision-making ability.
At Auburn, he was asked to make at most two reads pre-snap at Auburn. In the NFL, he will need time to learn to read multiple fronts and coverages. He has the ability but will need time and reps in practice to learn this. Some have questioned his football IQ and ability to pick up reads, but Newton has never been taught these things. He’s a blank canvas in terms of IQ.
Field Vision
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Mallett: Another area that we can't judge from a Pro Day, but going in to the offseason, we knew much about Mallett's ability to see the field.
At 6'7", he towers over most offensive and defensive linemen and will have no trouble finding clear passing lanes. This also makes his passes much harder to bat down by the defensive line.
Newton: Newton's vision has been questioned as a passer. We hoped to see more from him at the combine in this regard, where he did not know which routes to expect and was not as familiar with the timing of his receivers.
Newton will need time to adjust to the speed of the NFL, but more importantly, he simply needs to be taught how to read a defense.
Mechanics
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Mallett: Mallett has a very natural, over-the-top release that, matched with his height, allows him to deliver the ball cleanly and effectively. He stands tall when delivering the ball and uses a quick, fluid motion to get the ball out of his hands. When he runs play-action, he does an outstanding job of selling the run and hiding the ball from the defense. However, he needs to learn to drop back more effectively considering he spent lots of his time at Arkansas in either the shotgun or pistol formations.
Newton: Cam does a nice job stepping up and through his throws. He needs to do a better job setting his feet when throwing short-to-intermediate throws.
Having played in a shotgun-only system at Auburn and also during his time as a back up at Florida, he needed to show that he can play under center. During his Pro Day workout, Newton took all 60 snaps from center and looked fluid in his drop steps but was inconsistent in depth. You would notice him looking down too often to check his feet.
Has a compact delivery and a good over-the-top motion. His delivery and release will not need work. He will fail to step in to passes at times, which results in an incomplete pass.
Poise
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Mallett: While Mallett has always looked poised on the field, he has not done well in interviews. Mallett continues to come off as brash, immature and cocky. His interview at the combine was among the worst, according to many in attendance.
Mallett will have to answer for his past and provide insight in to rumors of drug use at some point. Up until now, he has simply ignored those allegations.
Newton: Cam Newton is a fiery player, but one who shows good poise on the field and off it. He did look winded at times during his Pro Day, likely due to nerves and adrenaline more than a lack of conditioning.
We saw how a player tiring in key spots or late in games can affect him with Donovan McNabb. Newton needs to separate himself from those comparisons and show he is the ice-cold leader many feel he will be.
Final Word
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If we had to declare one winner from the Pro Day workouts, it would be Ryan Mallett.
Cam Newton had everything to gain and really nothing to lose during his workout, but he did nothing to impress scouts during his throwing session. Newton continues to dazzle with athleticism but is not a refined passer and did nothing to ease concerns about his learning curve in the NFL or his status as an athlete first, quarterback second.
Mallett, on the other hand, looked very good throwing the ball again. While we knew he was a tremendous passer, he also looked good moving in the pocket during the scripted session. No one expected Mallett to run under five seconds in the 40-yard dash, so his time there does not bother me.
Cam Newton remains a likely target for the Carolina Panthers with the first pick overall, but Ryan Mallett may have moved himself back in to the first round with his workout yesterday.
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