Cam Newton: Comparing Panthers QB's First 5 Games to NFL's Elite QBs

Five games into his NFL career, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton is turning heads and opening eyes.

There were doubts when he was coming out of college if he was going to find success in the NFL game the way he did in college. So far, the wins haven't showed up, but it's not for lack of performance on Newton's part.

He's thrown for 1,610 yards while completing 58.2 percent of his 194 pass attempts. Carolina is just 1-4, but the Panthers have had chances to win, something that didn't happen much in 2010.

That got us to thinking how other current quarterbacks did in their first five starts.

Manning Had a Slow Start with Colts

Peyton Manning wasn't one of those who had to wait to get his shot.

Indianapolis made him a starter right out of the chute, and it was a bit of a rough go. In his first year, he hit on 56.7 percent of his 575 passes for 3,739 yards, and he threw for 26 touchdowns and 28 interceptions.

He would go on to have a much better career.

The Leader of the Pack

Most elite quarterbacks don't have the kind of apprenticeships that Aaron Rodgers did behind Brett Favre. But, while he had to wait three years to get his first start, it was clear he learned a lot on the bench.

Once he got on the field, he seemed to be a veteran from the beginning, hitting on 63.6 percent of his 536 passes for 4,038 yards with 28 TDs and 13 interceptions.

The Packers started out 2-3 under Rodgers, but they've gotten better since.

The Man Who Made the Patriots Champs

After leaving Michigan, Tom Brady spent his first year in New England mostly watching and waiting.

But beginning in 2001, he was the Patriots starter, and he soon became the club's leader. In his first five games, he connected on 62.3 percent of his 159 attempts for 1,023 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions.

The Man Who Could Do It All

There was nothing that Michael Vick couldn't do when he broke in with the Falcons except pile up wins; Atlanta was a shoddy team that gradually became better under his guidance.

His first five starts saw him throw for 939 yards while hitting on 71 of 127 attempts (55.9 percent). Good numbers, but the Falcons were 1-4 in those games.

A Winner Right from the Beginning

Once the Steelers gave Ben Roethlisberger the ball in in 2004, they never had cause to look back.

Roethlisberger won each of his first five starts, hitting on 84 of 117 passes (71.8 percent) for 937 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions.

A Cool Brees in New Orleans

The Saints could tell they'd latched onto a winner in Drew Brees when he guided them to four wins in his first five starts.

Brees threw for fewer yards (843) than any of the other quarterbacks on this list, but he hit on 60.1 percent of his 138 throws with five TDs and four interceptions in his first five games.

The San Diego Slinger

Philip Rivers waited two years before getting his chance with the Chargers, and when San Diego handed him the ball, he never let it go.

His first five games saw Rivers hit on 99-of-144 passes (68.8 percent) for 1,065 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. San Diego was 4-1 in those first five games.

The (Almost) New Kid on the Block

Sam Bradford came out of Oklahoma in 2010 with the expectations of a troubled franchise riding on his shoulders, and it didn't take long for him to fit in.

He won the starter's job with St. Louis in the preseason, then in his first five starts, threw a staggering total of 193 passes, more than anyone else on the list. He hit on 59.5 percent of those for 1,195 yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The Panthers' Best Hope Arrives

Of all the quarterbacks on the list, none has thrown for anything close to the 1,610 yards Cam Newton has collected in his first five starts.

Part of that has to do with the fact that he doesn't have much of a running game around him, so he is the offense, throwing 194 times, one more than Sam Bradford and more than 20 more attempts than anyone else on the list.

His seven touchdown passes is tied for second behind only the nine of Aaron Rodgers, but his six interceptions is seventh among the nine.

It's hard to make a determination based on five games to be sure, but Newton's comparative numbers in this study over his first five games suggest that he's going to be one of the best quarterbacks of the coming decade.

He's most of the way there already.