The Eagles did make some moves after the draft was complete. They signed former Wake Forrest and Georgia quarterback Jamie Newman. Newman went to Georgia during the 2020 season, but ultimately opted out to prepare for the draft. He will compete for a spot on the team during the rest of the offseason. Newman could turn a lot of heads during the off season and might even win the battle for second string quarterback, if Joe Flacco isn’t careful. This is the Eagles Player Spotlight: Jamie Newman.
Newman’s time at Wake Forrest
Newman did not play in 2020 after opting out of the season. He did, however, make a splash during his three years with the Demon Deacons. Newman first started for Wake Forrest during the 2018 season. He racked up 1,083 passing yards along with nine touchdowns during that campaign. He also accomplished a good amount of yardage on the ground as he had 247 rushing yards in 2018. The former Wake Forrest quarterback really broke out in the 2019 season. He had an impressive 2,868 passing yards along with 26 touchdowns. He more than doubled his passing yards and his touchdowns passes from the previous 2018 season. Newman showed that he also matured as a rusher in 2019. He had 574 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns during the 2019 season.
Newman did accomplish a few impressive accolades during his college football career. His passer efficiency rating was 4th in the ACC at 145.3. He also came in 8th in the ACC in pass completion percentage at 60.3 percent.
What kind of quarterback is Jamie Newman?
Newman is a pretty big quarterback at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds. He is mostly a pocket passer, but he can also be a dual-threat quarterback if the defense gives him an opportunity to run. Newman produced a lot of points in his time in college with his ability to throw within the red zone and being explosive. Newman is an incredible deep passing threat, as he can throw some dimes downfield.
One downfall about Newman was that he did catch the interception bug during the 2019 season. He threw 11 interceptions during that campaign. This mostly has to do with some of Newman’s mechanics throwing the ball and staring down targeted receivers. Newman will have more than enough time during the off season to fix these issues as he tries to become an efficient NFL quarterback.
Was signing Newman the best option for the Eagles?
The Eagles had a lot of options on how to go about getting their third quarterback. One rumor was that the Eagles were going to trade up and get Justin Fields in the first round. This did not make much sense because Hurts has played games in the NFL and had success. A more likely option was finding a late round quarterback in the draft, but they passed on that too. This did not hurt the Eagles, since they managed to get a pretty talented undrafted prospect in free agency.
As said above, Newman can surprise a lot of people during the offseason and could even manage stealing the second-string quarterback position. Newman might even get some playing time with Eagles this year. This will more than likely only be for a few plays, such as using the run-pass option to get first downs or even a touchdown in the red zone. The Eagles could also use his arm and deep threat accuracy if they manage to get themselves in a situation that involves long yardage. This was the best option for the Eagles and they got Newman at a good value. It will be interesting to see how Newman develops with the Eagles and how he does as an NFL quarterback.
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