If you’re reading these words, congratulations on still being alive if your fantasy football playoffs! It’s week sixteen which means the finals in the majority of leagues out there. This week means, however, that you have some very serious decisions to make with regards to your fantasy starters, as you’re playing for literally everything; the entire season comes down to this. With that in mind, Cam Newton is a player you may be asking yourself if you should start or sit.
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Cam was the consensus #1 quarterback off the board this draft season. His 2015 MVP campaign, which was fraught with questionable completion percentages but buoyed by gaudy rushing totals, made him a hot fantasy commodity. This season has been anything but great for Cam, who has posted just six games of twenty or more fantasy points this season, which is the border for a usable fantasy quarterback. He has just as many games with fewer than seventeen. While this production would be acceptable out of someone like a Kirk Cousins or a Matthew Stafford (at a much lower draft cost), Newton has not lived up to his draft stock at all. He’s not running nearly as much and he isn’t scoring as many rushing touchdowns, which has dropped his perception. Through all his ups and downs, if you have Cam Newton, you still have a top-ten quarterback in the year (just ahead of wunderkind Marcus Mariota). He hasn’t been the mic drop QB1 you expected, but he is still worthwhile.
He also has literally the best possible fantasy matchup for week sixteen. The Falcons this year have allowed the most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this year, and that’s after shutting down three of their last five quarterbacks (Goff, Wentz, and Alex Smith combine for fewer than 33 fantasy points against them). The quality quarterbacks have been able to gouge the Falcons defense, and Cam should be able to take advantage of them Saturday. The only issue is that he will not really be able to run. The Falcons likely revealed their game plan for Cam Newton’s legs last Sunday when they had Vic Beasley spying Colin Kaepernick to prevent scampers for first downs.
While Cam Newton has been a fantasy disappointment this season, he is still among the tops in the position in a fantasy points per game basis. He has dropped some stinkers in there, but he has as much upside as anyone. This week he takes on the Falcons defense that has allowed the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this year, so you couldn’t ask for a better matchup. The Panthers are technically still alive, so they’ll continue to scrap to make the post-season. Cam is worth starting this week if he ended up on your team.