Fantasy Football Week 2: Why Cam Newton Is a Bad Play vs. Green Bay Packers

In many fantasy football leagues, the run on Cam Newton has begun.

Coming off of his record-setting rookie debut last week (in which he threw for 422 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the Carolina Panthers' 28-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals), he is one of the hottest waiver-wire commodities in all of fantasy land.

And fantasy land is where GMs are at, if they've picked up Newton to start in Week 2, when the Panthers host defending Super Bowl Champions, the Green Bay Packers, on Sunday.

To say Newton was impressive in his debut would be an understatement, especially after his lackluster preseason appearances. Those preseason struggles serve to mitigate any immediate fantasy value he may have. He has yet to prove that he can be consistently successful.

The fact that he was able to pass for so many yards against a dismal Arizona pass defense also should be of concern to those who picked up Newton to supplement their fantasy rosters.

Yards and completions won't come as easy against the Packers defense. Though they gave up 419 passing yards and 34 points to the Saints last Thursday, they did so while facing one of the most elite and accurate quarterbacks in the NFL: Drew Brees.

While Newton's passing yardage is nearly equal to Brees' heading into Sunday's game, this is certainly no indication that he has come anywhere close to entering that echelon of quarterbacks in just one performance.

It is quite possible that the Arizona game—and not the poor preseason showing—is the anomaly for Newton.

Look for Newton to return to reality on Sunday against the Packers, and I recommend that fantasy GMs firmly stay there as well.

If you've picked up Newton based on his Week 1 game, keep him on your bench in Week 2.

The chances of him having a similar performance and leading your team to victory this week are slim-to-none.