The comparisons are inevitable. We will measure up Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III to Cam Newton's boffo rookie season. (Our sidelines blog created a cool, fancy-looking Cam Metric.)
Physically, there are more similarities between Luck and Newton. The two players had almost identical numbers at the NFL Combine. On the field, the three players have varying styles. Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera did a good job breaking down the difference between RG3 and Newton.
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"I think their styles are similar only to certain degrees, certain aspects of the game," Rivera said, via the Charlotte Observer. "I think after that it's a lot more different. They get RG3 more on the edges, they get him outside the pocket a lot more. RG3 makes a lot more throws behind the line of scrimmage than we do. We attack a little bit more vertically as opposed to throwing the ball sideways. And our quarterback stays more in the pocket. I think those are some of the philosophical differences between our coordinator and their coordinator.
"I think their skill sets are similar to the degree that they both have good arms, they're very athletic and they both run very well. The difference obviously being the physical difference. Our guy is 6-5 and he's 6-2. There's that difference and about 40 pounds."
Rivera is right. The Washington Redskins and Panthers both present unique challenges to defenses, but they go about it in very different ways.
We'll add one more similarity: Newton and RG3 have coaches smart enough to implement what worked for the quarterbacks in college.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
