Ryan Mallett Outshines Cam Newton At NFL Scouting Combine
By Josh Sanchez
The Dallas Cowboys have already been a part of the “Cam Newton Show” during the NFL Scouting Combine as they conducted a 15-minute interview with him yesterday. Newton has been a lightning rod for controversy this past year, but that didn’t stop the Cowboys from sitting down with him. Newton isn’t the only controversial quarterback that Dallas plans on talking to this week.
According to reports, Cowboys officials have said that the team plans on talking with Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett. Mallett has the strongest arm in this year’s draft, but he has seen his stock plummet do to severe character concerns and rumors of heavy drug use.
During passing drills at the combine, Mallett showcased his cannon arm and made some beautiful throws all over the field. All the while, Cam Newton failed to entertain and put up an iconic stink job of a performance. Newton was all over the place with his deep balls and again failed to take the blame. Instead of owning up to his poor outing, he blamed the slower, small school receivers. The funniest part is, the “slow, small school receivers” put up the fastest times among receivers.
There is no word as to how serious the Cowboys interest is in either of the quarterbacks, but if they would decide to take one of these two, I would hope they go with Mallett. Not only does Mallett have the better arm, but he could also fall to the Cowboys in the second round giving Dallas more value out of the pick.
Here are ESPN John Clayton’s observations from the combine workouts today. First up, Cam Newton:
"Overall, Newton completed 11 of his 21 throws after helping out receivers in the across-the-field pass-catching drills.Newton is a great arm thrower, not using much leg power to put velocity behind his throws. He can throw 50-to-60 yards with an easy arm motion. There is no throw he can’t make.Newton was two-for-three on deep post-corner routes, his best throws of the day. The post-corner routes were the last passes of the workout. He took a little off his first throw to get a completion and was a little long with throw number two. No. 3 was perfectHis most consistent throws were the 17-yard “turn-ins” to his left and 12-yard “turn ins” to his right, completing five of six of those throws.What’s clear is he needs to work on his footwork on passes to his left. Like a lot of young quarterbacks, Newton tended to overstride and not be accurate on passes to his left. The longer the pass, the less accurate he was. He was one-for-three on short “out” passes to his left, rebounded with his leftside “turn-in” passes and missed all three of his “go” routes down the left sidelines.Perhaps the most disappointing part of his performance was overthrowing receivers on three passes to his right on short “out” passes to the sideline."
Here’s what he saw from Mallett:
"What was evident — as expected — was his strong arm, an arm that sometimes was almost too strong. Mallett’s first throw on a short route was so strong and hard it caused Mallett to step back and almost hit himself with his hand as if he was mad at himself for throwing a 5-yard route with such velocity. After that, he settled down and had a great day.Mallett elected not to run but instead to throw, emphasizing his strengths as a quarterback. On deep seam routes in the middle of the field, Mallett was flawless, arching the ball with perfect touch and hitting receivers in stride.On out routes to the sideline, Mallett delivered his best fastball and was perfectly accurate. The ball exploded into receivers’ hands.His slant route throws were perfect although some of the throws are so hard and fast they will challenge the hands of receivers.He was particularly impressive on his post corners on the right, going four-for-four. If there was a weakness, it was his 17-yard turn-ins to his left. His first pass was high. His second one was a little off, but by the third throw he was perfect.Mallett has excellent deep touch on his throws. His challenge is making sure he can be accurate on his intermediate throws."
How interested would you be in Dallas taking a quarterback in the first or second round? Better yet, would you rather have Newton or Mallett? Sound off in the comment section!