*Our QB grades can and will change as more information comes in from Pro Day workouts, leaked Wonderlic test results, etc. We will update ratings as new info becomes available.
So far, I’ve done a deeper dive study on about 10 or so QBs…and this is the first real dud QB prospect that I’ve found. I’m not sure how he’s risen to respectable prospect level with some scouts. I think people see an NFL sized QB who can run…and they get all excited. Trust me, don’t get excited.
Nothing is great here…nothing is really even good here.
Newman is not an NFL passer. Highly inaccurate. Cannot read defenses well. He’s an ‘F’ grade pocket passer. He runs a college read option and has enough arm to pull back handoffs/play action and then fire a pass to his first read if that’s open but when you make him sit in the pocket and try to sift through the defense – bad things are going to happen.
Newman can make plays on some quick hitters and some up-for-grab throws, but when he truly takes to the pocket and tries to make normal QB throws into real routes…the passes are all over the place, like 3-5 yards off target most of the time. My vision of Newman passing, from my tape watching, is him throwing simple passes to open receivers but the receivers are always diving, going to the ground, adjusting to the errant throws. Newman is lucky he had some good WRs to work with…three fringe NFL WRs in 2019, who saved him time and again.
Besides being a bad pocket passer, he really isn’t that great of a runner. Sure, he can take off with the ball and make some yards. He’s an NFL RB size with probably 4.65+ speed…fast enough and big enough for college, but average for the NFL. It’s not even his size/speed as much as it is his lack of heart or energy running the ball that struck me.
I just don’t see much at all with Newman for the pro level.
Example: 2019 vs. Clemson, played the entire game and went 6-of-14 passing for 41 yards and 0 TDs/2 INTs…and his 6 completions were a chore. In his 2019 season bowl game vs. Michigan State…12-of-27 passing for 175 yards, but 3 TDs/1 INT (a couple of the passing TDs were more luck/the receiver than excellent QB play).
I’m not going to waste time researching or discussing his character or background because he is never going to matter in the pros. He did opt-out of 2020 because he thinks he is some hot prospect – he’s about to get a rude awakening.
Bryce Perkins, from this same conference (Virginia) went pro in 2019…and he’s a read option runner-passer prospect too – and he was 100x better than Newman working in the same conference, but Perkins got no love from the 2019 NFL Draft (on the Rams practice squad now). I suspect Newman is going to meet the same fate unless someone pulls strings to get him drafted.
Jamie Newman, Through the Lens of Our QB Scouting Algorithm:
Newman’s career is easy to dissect…
16 games as a starter.
75%+ Comp. Pct., 354.7 yards per game, 9 TDs/1 INT = vs. Elon, Rice, Utah State (3 games/3-0 record)
56.4% Comp. Pct., 216.3 yards per game, 26 TDs/13 INTs = vs. the ACC, two bowl games (13 games/7-6 record)
Congrats for beating up Elon and Rice…
His last 5 college games…(1-4) record, under 50.0% Comp. Pct. (not under 60%...that’s under 50%)…6 TDs/6 INTs, 161.8 passing yards per game.
Newman did have two 100+ yard rushing games in his career, but mostly games under 50 yards rushing.
NFL Combine projected numbers:
4.60+ 40-time, 7.00+ three-cone, 9-9.5” hands.
The Historical QB Prospects to Whom Jamie Newman Most Compares Within Our System:
What you would expect – solid but terribly inaccurate, highly mobile college QBs who never sniffed the NFL as legit QBs.
|
QB-Grade |
LJax Rating |
Last |
First |
Yr |
College |
H |
W |
Adj Comp Pct |
Adj Yds per Comp |
Adj Pass per TD |
Adj Pass Per INT |
|
2.508 |
5.79 |
Newman |
Jamie |
2021 |
Wake Forest |
74.0 |
220 |
54.8% |
12.2 |
16.9 |
20.3 |
|
1.611 |
6.27 |
Daniels |
B.J. |
2013 |
So Florida |
72.0 |
220 |
54.6% |
12.6 |
21.3 |
27.8 |
|
1.011 |
4.85 |
Davis |
Matt |
2017 |
SMU |
72.2 |
212 |
54.9% |
13.0 |
19.2 |
31.6 |
|
0.181 |
7.08 |
Showers |
Jameill |
2015 |
UTEP |
73.3 |
233 |
55.9% |
11.3 |
25.8 |
31.0 |
|
-0.876 |
|
Boone |
Anthony |
2015 |
Duke |
72.0 |
239 |
53.1% |
10.4 |
26.4 |
33.5 |
*’LJax rating’ – new for 2021, as we re-do our grading systems to better identify/reward the spread offense QB prospects…looking for the runner-passer talents.
**“Adj” = A view of adjusted college output in our system…adjusted for strength of opponent.
***A score of 8.5+ is where we see a stronger correlation of QBs going on to become NFL good-to-great. A scouting score of 9.5+ is rarefied air—higher potential for becoming great-to-elite.
QBs scoring 6.0–8.0 are finding more success in the new passing era of the NFL (2014–on). Depending upon the system and surrounding weapons, a 6.0–8.0 rated QB can do fine in today’s NFL—with the right circumstances…but they are not ‘the next Tom Brady’ guys, just NFL-useful guys.
2021 NFL Draft Outlook:
I’ve seen Newman ranked as high as the top 75 overall and as low as #225+ overall. There should be no way Newman is even drafted…maybe as a 7th-round flyer, but even that’s a waste when you can find more talented guys to gamble on as UDFAs, or just poach Bryce Perkins off the Rams practice squad. In the end, he seems to carry a name…so I bet he goes 5th-6th-round.
If I were an NFL GM, I would not even consider…and then laugh heartily as someone else wastes a pick on him
NFL Outlook:
Will likely hang around practice squad level for a few years. Can be a scout team QB to prep for facing Lamar Jackson or Jalen Hurts or Justin Fields, I guess. He’ll never make it as a serious NFL QB.
1/17/2021
