Cam Newton vs. Jalen Hurts is the stupid internet argument with only one correct answer
This shouldn’t be up for debate.
Take a spin around the corners of football internet and it won’t be long before you stumble across one of the biggest arguments amongst NFL fans right now: Cam Newton vs. Jalen Hurts. It’s everywhere, and dozens of people on Reddit, TikTok, and Instagram are rushing in to give their two cents.
It’s a discussion that has come about as Hurts approaches Newton’s rushing TD record for a quarterback, needing 21 to break the record while averaging 14 a season over the last three years. These are two dual-threat quarterbacks who have had a major impact on the NFL during their respective careers, without necessarily having the raw passing stats that combine favorably to their peers.
This is also the stupidest argument on the face of the earth that shouldn’t even be an argument, because unless you’re a Gen Z football fan who doesn’t know ball, Cam Newton wins this hands down, and twice on Sunday.
There’s a pervasiveness to these head-to-head arguments which seems to necessitate slandering one player in order to justify the other as the correct choice. That won’t be happening here. The truth is that Jalen Hurts is fantastic, and the perfect quarterback for the Eagles. He’s a huge reason why they won a Super Bowl, and are poised to be contenders for the next several years in the NFC. That said, he’s just not Cam Newton — because nobody is, nor will they ever be.
Let’s look at the base numbers in the first five years of each player’s career, then we can go from there.
Cam Newton stats, first five years
1,440/2,418 (59.5%), 18,263 passing yards, 117 TD, 64 INT
599 carries, 3,207 yards (5.3 YPA), 43 TD
Jalen Hurts stats, first five years
1,248/1,939 (64.4%), 14,667 passing yards, 85 TD, 39 INT
674 carries, 3,133 yards (4.6 YPA), 55 TD
From their numbers this becomes the classic big play vs. efficiency argument which so often dominates discussions like this. Newton did more with the ball every time he had it in his hands, in both passing and rushing — but Hurts is a more accurate passer, and has a better TD/INT ratio, showing he was better at taking care of the ball.
The real rub in this argument comes when we look at the teams around these players. Hurts and the Eagles, one of the best-run organizations in the NFL, boasting football’s best GM and an offensive line that dwarfs the rest of the league. Newton, guided by three kids in a trench coat pretending to be an adult.
It’s impossible to understate just how damaging the Panthers front office was to Newton’s career. He excelled in spite of them, not because of them. When Newton dragged Carolina to a Super Bowl berth in 2015 he had the most laughable group of receivers any Super Bowl team had had in the last 20 years: Ted Ginn Jr, Corey Brown, Jerricho Cotchery, and Devin Funchess. These were four dudes who would all struggle to be 3rd or 4th receivers on any other team, yet Newton turned them into winners.
Sure, he had Greg Olsen (the Panthers’ leading receiver that season), and he’s one of the greatest tight ends of all time — but the way Carolina ran their show wasn’t dissimilar to the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes. The front office gave him total ass as weapons, because they knew he could bail them out.
The offensive line only had two good players on it in C Ryan Kalil and RG Trai Turner. Outside of that they had Newton being protected by Michael Oher and Mike Remmers. Do you know who Mike Remmers is? Of course you don’t. Nobody outside of Charlotte knows who Mike Remmers is.
The point here is that the team around Newton wouldn’t have gone .500 without No. 1 under center. Not even remotely a chance. Instead they boasted the top scoring offense in the NFL and made it to the Super Bowl solely because of Cam Newton.
Can we really say the same of Jalen Hurts? Seriously, the answer is no. There are obviously things he does exceptionally well. No quarterback is better at running the Tush Push, which the Eagles have refined into an art form — but the Eagles still would have been an elite playoff team with another capable QB under center. Would they have won the Super Bowl? Possibly not, but they would have been in the picture.
Philadelphia’s offense is second to none in the NFC. It’s diverse, it can attack from every angle, and it’s varied. Much was made of Saquon Barkley this season, and rightfully so — but it’s almost like people forgot that Hurts also had A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert this season. Ask yourself: Would you rather be throwing the ball to A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert — or Ted Ginn Jr., Corey Brown, and Greg Olsen?
When the dust settles Jalen Hurts will have had the better career by a mile. Even if he were to hang it up right now, his career would be better. Winning a Super Bowl does that. However, if we remove everything else from the equation the question of Cam vs. Jalen comes down to one simple factor: Cam Newton won in spite of the Panthers, Jalen Hurts wins because of the Eagles.
Realizing that is the key to appreciating that Newton was unlike anything we’ve seen in the NFL, and his career was squandered.