Standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 245 pounds, there aren’t many quarterbacks who are as physically imposing as Cam Newton. As a matter of fact, there aren’t many defenders who are as big as Newton.
There have been 828 players to log a snap on defense this season. Newton is taller than 90 percent of those 828, and he outweighs 52 percent of them. Of those 828 defensive players, 79 -- 9.5 percent -- match Newton’s height and weight combination.
Four teams –- the Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers and Seattle Seahawks –- have not used a player on defense this season who matches Newton's height and weight. Newton is bigger than all but two of the defenders used by his own team this season. Defensive ends Jared Allen and Wes Horton can both match Newton’s height and weight.
Even taking out the height component, Newton outweighs more than half of the league’s defenders. Only 48 percent of players to log a defensive snap this season weigh at least 245 pounds.
Breaking it down by team
The New England Patriots have benefited the most from heaviness, as 57 percent of the defensive players they’ve used this season weigh at least 245 pounds. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense is on the other end of the spectrum, as 35 percent of their players used this season weigh at least 245 pounds. Newton ran 12 times for 51 yards against the Bucs in Week 4.
The Tennessee Titans, Newton’s opponent Sunday, have seen 53.8 percent of their defensive players weigh in at 245 this season, sixth highest in the NFL. That includes team sack leaders Brian Orakpo (6-4, 257), Derrick Morgan (6-3, 261) and Jurrell Casey (6-1, 305).
Breaking it down by position
It might come as no surprise that there are no defensive backs this season weighing in at 245 pounds. No defensive backs this season are even listed at 6-foot-5, so Newton is literally bigger and taller than every NFL defensive back this season.
Only a quarter of the defensive linemen in the NFL this season can match Newton’s height and weight, but 260 of the 261 linemen to play weigh at least 245 pounds. Benson Mayowa of the Oakland Raiders is the exception, weighing in at 240 pounds.
Linebackers across the league are nearly split among players weighing 245 or more. Interestingly enough, the Carolina Panthers are one of two teams (Buccaneers) that hasn’t used a linebacker weighing 245 pounds this season. All eight of the linebackers used by the Patriots have weighed 245 pounds.