5 NFL players who should still be superstars in 2022
Former NFL superstar no. 2: Cam Newton, QB
Before Joe Burrow’s legendary 2019 season at LSU, the last college quarterback I can recall being so dominant on a week-to-week basis was Cam Newton at Auburn.
Newton was a living cheat code for the Auburn Tigers, and the Carolina Panthers bought in.
During the lockout-shortened 2011 offseason, the Panthers made Newton the top overall pick in the NFL Draft. He came in to change the franchise, and he did exactly that.
Newton won Rookie of the Year and made the Pro Bowl in 2011.
He made another Pro Bowl in 2013 and by 2015, he was one of the most dominant players in the NFL.
Newton’s 2015 season was a thing of beauty. He won the NFL MVP award after throwing for 3,837 yards and 35 touchdowns while also running for 636 yards and 10 touchdowns.
It was about as impressive of a season as you can have at the QB position and Newton led the Panthers on a dominant playoff run in 2015.
That is, until he faced the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50. The Broncos absolutely broke Newton in that game and shut down the Panthers’ high-flying offensive attack.
After Super Bowl 50, Newton wasn’t the same guy out there. Superman had met his kryptonite.
By the 2018 season, injuries started taking their toll on Newton.
In 2019, he played in just two games.
He wound up with the New England Patriots in 2020 and threw just eight touchdown passes in 15 regular season games. Even adding 12 rushing touchdowns, it was merely a shell of the Cam Newton we had all come to know and love.
In 2021, Newton had an unlikely reunion tour with the Carolina Panthers that didn’t go overly well.
Newton is now 33 years old and still sitting in free agency. While other 33-year-old players like Russell Wilson are the subject of blockbuster trades, and Kirk Cousins is still signing huge contracts, Newton is just looking for an opportunity.
How is such a dominant physical specimen not a superstar in the NFL anymore? Again, injuries have taken their toll, but Newton isn’t yet out of time. He could still be someone’s starter at some point in 2022.